Racism is the issue that will not go away. Many people will say that Bermuda has made more progress than most other countries when it comes to race relations, that it is not really a problem here. At the other extreme are those who place Bermuda in the same league as South Africa. Indeed racism can be raised in virtually every aspect of life in Bermuda. Employment. Housing.

Education. And it is sure to ingnite a range of emotions -anger, fear, frustration, despair, sadness, even hope. It is something that few have wanted to talk about publicly.

Until now.

With an election campaign that highlighted racism as a key issue, and the creation of a new Government ministry that will deal specifically with racism, it seems Bermuda is ready to tackle the problem. Though most people never get the chance to speak out on the issue of race, virtually everyone has an opinion on it. RG Magazine gave ordinary people an opportunity to say what they wanted, what racism means to them, how it has affected their lives, and whether there is any cause for optimism.

More than 1,000 random telephone calls were made to people who were asked to participate in a series of focus groups and discuss race issues. All were asssured their names would not be used.

Almost everyone contacted was interested, and while some jumped at the opportunity, many declined. The reasons varied: some were afraid their employer might find out, some said no for religious reasons. A few said race was not a problem in their life or in Bermuda and questioned why we wanted to "make it an issue''.

In the end, 28 people came forward. They represented a cross-cetion of Bermuda - blacks, whites, Portuguese; Bermudian and non-Bermudian; labourers and lawyers. Our only stipulation was that the groups did not include politicians or spokespeople for specific interest groups. The groups ranged in size from two to 10 and each session lasted approximately two hours. Venous Telford, a Bermudian with a Masters degree in counselling, was the moderator for the sessions. Representatives from RG were present at each session, but played no part in the discussions. There were no set questions - people were free to discuss any topics they wished.

RG has made no attempt to edit what people had to say or how they said it, except to correct grammar or for clarity. Some names of individuals referred to in comments have been omitted for legal reasons.

With more than 10 hours of tape, it would have been impossible to reprint everybody's comments here but we have tried to represent as many points of viewas possible without repetition. The opinions expressed are solely those of the people who participated.

The sessions were taped at the Anglican Cathedral Hall and The Royal Gazette between August 24 and September 3.

NOVEMBER 1993 RG MAGAZINE