Minister of Culture and Social Rehabilitation Dale Butler has joined forces with a body promoting racial equality in asking the Church of England to provide scholarships for its role in the slave trade.

In 2006, Premier Ewart Brown applauded the decision by Britain's governing body of the Church of England for issuing an apology for its a role in the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade.

The Bermuda body of the Anglican Church, which is affiliated with the Church of England, subsequently accepted a challenge from the Premier to follow England's lead, which they did by expressing its regret for involvement in the inhumane treatment of blacks.

Yesterday, Mr. Butler issued a press release saying he had joined the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality (CURE) Cure in inviting the Church of England to consider a scholarship programme for Bermudians.

When contacted for reaction yesterday Bishop Ewen Ratterray, head of Bermuda's Anglican Church, declined to comment, saying he was in the process of responding to CURE, which had sent him a letter on the subject.

Meanwhile, prominent anti-racism campaigner Dr. Eva Hodgson believed any such programme would be a positive step for the Anglican Church.

Dr. Hodgson said: "It's always good when a Minister or someone in political leadership chooses to draw attention to what our racial divide still is.

"We still are a deeply racially divided society and anyone who says or makes any gesture in that direction to acknowledge it and attempts to make amends... that's the first step that needs to be done in this country.

"She said it was especially important for the Anglican Church to make amends because of its dismal history in participating in apartheid policies.

"The Anglican Church in this country was not only a participant but a leader in the policy of apartheid," Dr. Hodgson noted. "And it was a follower when it came to minimising the policy and breaking it down.

"Today's Anglican Church is clearly not the same as the Anglican Church at that time; I expect that blacks play a much larger role now and whites probably don't even play as big of a role as they did at that time.

"Dr. Hodgson believes high-profile white leaders in the community must do more in taking ownership for the church's role in slavery and apartheid policies.

"Bermuda's big problem is there is still a sense of denial within the white community. We very often get our attention drawn to Nelson Mandela in South Africa.

"The advantage South Africa had was because the world was challenging it, whites there could not deny what had happened and it's the fact they acknowledged it – they owned their role in the apartheid policy which made it possible to go forward.

"In Bermuda, no one in a leadership position, has been willing to acknowledge it and to own the apartheid system that we had here and I think that's one of the reasons why we don't move forward.

"The Anglican Church participated in the pattern of apartheid; it had a policy of having two separate schools, two separate Sunday schools, two separate choirs and made blacks sit at the back.

"So it has a history of participating in apartheid and if somebody in the leadership of the church was to do something like that (providing scholarships) at least it would be taking ownership of its role.

"On March 25 last year, the Anglican Church held an event to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, in which the church admitted guilt and expressed its regret.

On the same day, in a CURE speech, Mr. Butler invited the Anglican Church to go further than their admission of guilt and "come forward with some kind of compensation in terms of scholarships for youth.

"Additionally, he joined CURE in inviting the church to do more to show the religious community and the people of Bermuda that it is committed to help heal the wounds of racial divide in Bermuda.

The March 25, 2007 event was one of several community initiatives, which included The Royal Gazette's Break The Chains Campaign, which called for solidarity in decrying the evils of slavery and racism.