HERE is a struggle going on for the future of Bermuda. This struggle is manifesting itself in the political realm but it also has a racial component ? one that is still conspicuously in evidence from time to time.

But, strangely enough for those of us who came of age when the political divide in Bermuda was largely based around the racial divide, it is becoming increasingly clear this ongoing cultural war for Bermuda's future is largely being played out in the black community.

Some recent public statements add credence to this view.

Just look at the contrasting styles ? and very contrasting content ? of the address given by lawyer and former Member of Parliament Julian Hall at a recent meeting held by the pressure group, the All Bermuda Congress at St. Paul's Christian Centre, and a speech delivered Nikkita Scott, a Bermuda College counsellor, at the recent Progressive Labour Party Founders' Day luncheon.

Both speakers addressed Bermuda's current socio-political climate, both extrapolated future developments based on current circumstances ? and both came to radically different conclusions as to the best way forward for this country.

Mr. Hall called for wholesale reform of Bermuda's political system which tends, in his opinion, to keep Bermuda's racial politics (and divisions) alive long after the era of polarised black/white community relations has died.

He seemed to suggest an end to the two-party politics, which in a biracial society has largely resulted in the electorate cleaving along racial rather than philosophical lines. And he argued for a return to a system of so-called Independent Parliamentarians who, he said, could better serve both their constituents' and the island's interests.

He remarked that before the introduction of the Westminster political system in Bermuda in 1968, the island had been governed for centuries by Independent Parliamentarians who were loyal to their beliefs rather than to a party line, forming temporary alliances to pass legislation rather being part of permanent voting blocs.

However, he failed to put that old political into its proper social and historical context and did not ask if that system had served the best interests of all Bermudians. In fact, the system of Independent Members of Colonial Parliament (as they were then) was scrapped in the 1960s largely because it was seen to disproportionately benefit the elite of the white community at the consistent expense of the black, working class.

Mr. Hall has repeatedly stated he no longer wants to belong to an all-black Government but has only marginally made reference to the United Bermuda Party, which still enjoys overwhelmingly political support from the white community.

Interestingly, Mr. Hall's comments seemed to play into a belief that is increasingly common in the white community ? namely, that since the PLP became the Government in 1998, the white community as a whole has become victims of a black political party that is hell-bent on revenge for the sins of Bermuda's racially divided past.

Mr. Hall is of the opinion that the only way to expunge race from Bermuda's political process is to create a Parliamentary system that is less adversarial. I have no real argument with his position in that regard but what about the practicalities of instituting such a massive overhaul?

Will those people who have the most to gain from seeing the existing political system continue to happily give up their economic agendas or their social or cultural outlooks for the sake of a benign Parliament that offends no one?

Now let me turn to the comments of Ms Scott.

Ms Scott began her speech to the PLP luncheon by talking about the experience of her own elders living in a Bermuda that upheld the maxim that we are indeed our brother's keeper. She bemoans the individualist, consumer-oriented society Bermuda has become and is concerned about the dependency complexes that many Bermudians have developed in terms of expecting the Government to solve all of their personal responsibilities.

links this dependency complex to the lack of support for sovereign Independence on the part of Bermudians. Ms Scott sees a people who lack the confidence to solve even their most basic personal problems (although she pointed out that the big issue of affordable housing is an area which clearly has got out of control for most people of modest means, a situation that demands Government intervention).

Ms Scott said people who were unable to look after their own requirements could not be expected to rally behind the idea of their country standing on its own and becoming an Independent nation in its own right.

Ms Scott sees a Bermuda that will find its salvation only when it finds the confidence to believe in itself and is able to embrace the concept of becoming a nation in its own right.

Mr. Hall, by way of contrast, does not see Bermuda becoming a nation as a solution to creating a united community. In fact, he has stated that he no longer believes in the concept of an Independent Bermuda.

But he advanced no solution for Bermuda's racial divide except a reformed parliamentary system that is supposed to end racial polarisation in Bermudian politics and Government. Interestingly enough, the idea that we are all Bermudians regardless of our race or cultural background is the one common denominator that always comes into play when the political discourse in Bermuda becomes too heated.

Yet there has been no real discussion as to what has to be done to reach the point when we can all agree that, above all else, it's this cultural commonality that shouldbe at the forefront of our thoughts and our political affairs.

Perhaps the question of Bermudian Independence and a reasonable debate on the issue could have served as a method for discovering on what levels we all are Bermudians.

But as things stand now, it looks like the latest Independence initiative is another lost opportunity in this regard.

Perhaps what we will see instead is an increasingly sharpened debate in the black community as to whither the fates shall now take Bermuda while the white community stands increasingly on the side.