has made a contribution toward opening Bermuda's discussion of race. We have already carried three editorials on the subject and the Ministry is now making it four.

"Among the moral imperatives of our time, we are challenged to work all over the world with unshakable determination to wipe out the last vestiges of racism....We know full well that racism is still the hound of hell which dogs the tracks of our civilisation.'' The words written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. accurately describe our current state of human relations in Bermuda. Racism is the most vital and challenging issue facing our community at its present stage of development. If we fail to solve this social problem it will continue to hound us like a rabid dog and retard our growth and development as a nation.

The recent dialogue on racism through the medium of the press should be viewed as healthy even though it is sometimes painful. It is an indication of the unfinished business of race relations in the community that still needs to be resolved. The extreme and sometimes hostile views expressed on this topic do have a positive effect. They force us to place this volatile issue on the agenda for community dialogue.

Recent Letters to the Editor (Mid-Ocean News, October 7, 1994) should help to end any denial that one may have about the existence of racism in the community. Racism is as alive and prevalent here as it is throughout the world.

We should not feel threatened by this new openness and willingness for Bermudians to really say that they think about race relations. It must be discussed before it can be resolved.

It is time for all of us to examine our personal views on racism. We cannot choose our race or skin colour, but we can choose the nature of our beliefs and attitudes. Social scientists tell us that the roots of racism go beyond the inability to accept a person of another race as an equal. Racism's roots originate with people who are unable to accept themselves. A person who does not feel good about himself looks for other people that he can feel superior to, and racism is rooted in this need for superiority.

Do we have a caring community? Do we ensure that all of the primary needs of our residents are realised -- physically, socially, economically, intellectually and spiritually? Are we sowing the seeds for racism in Bermuda? If we are to move towards eliminating racism and its pernicious impact on the community, then we must create a vision of ending racism as a first step to achieving this goal. We need to create a new vision and a new idea of Bermuda as a united community with the freedom to develop, grow and attain greatness as a people.

Our history of poor race relations is not necessarily our destiny. We can use our history as the foundation for creating a new future.

We can join in a common cause to end the evil of racism and build on the positives of all of our cultures.

To start this process, a Bill will be introduced into the Legislature, in the next session, to create a new standing body, the Commission For Unity and Racial Equality (CURE). Its task will be to promote and sponsor community programmes to heal the wounds of our past and begin the long-term racial transformation towards building a community of united people.

Once we have the courage, will and commitment to face our fears and begin to work together we will discover that new reality that Maya Angelou writes about in her poem, The Human Family: "We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.''