The St. George's disturbances which involved pitched battles between rival gangs of black males has become a flash point that has resulted in widespread community agreement that something needs to be done about young black men. When one listens to the many complaints, one gets the impression that young black males are aliens from another planet who somehow got stranded in Bermuda.

The current state of development of young black males is the outcome of two ingredients: Their genetic composition and their environment. Except to the extent that the combatants at St. George's were male and black I don't believe their genetic composition has any other relevance of importance. I am of the view that we need to ask ourselves "has the environment changed in ways that have virtually obliterated traditional, positive roles that should exist for young Black men?"

In answering this broad question, it helps to look at the performance of some of the institutions that greatly influence the behaviour and attitudes of our youth. I refer to the family, the education system, the economy, the political system, the security systems and the religious systems.

The family is the fundamental societal institution that shapes the development of youth. It is responsible for transferring the values and customs necessary in order for the young to become functioning adults and responsible parents in today's Bermuda. The family also provides the nurturing so necessary for the development of concern and respect for others.

In earlier days, parents raised children with the help of all family members as well as the members of the community in which the family was located. Today, the extended family is virtually non-existent and the community, in most locales, has simply disintegrated. One needs to ask whether the replacements for family and community - the various social services provided by both government and private organisations - are performing satisfactorily. To the extent that this is not the case, we need to determine to what extent, if any, their malfunctioning is causing the negative behaviour and attitudes being attributed to some young black males.

The family is supported in its monumental task of raising the young by the religious institutions. To the extent that the family regularly attends a place of worship, there can be no doubt that the value systems and customs they are instilling in their children will be positively influenced by religious instruction. Does the pregnant young lady who has conceived outside of wedlock, abort her child, give it up for adoption, force the putative father to marry her or simply attempt to raise the child on her own? Clearly, whatever choice she makes will be influenced by her religious training and parental support. And no doubt, the choice will have an important impact on the behaviour and attitudes of the biological father of the unborn child.

The education system has the responsibility for transferring to young black males the knowledge accumulated by society. Unfortunately, the education system supplies only that knowledge that is approved by the rulers of society. For example, almost everyone is aware that it was the attitude of the political leadership of the day that led to the demise of Howard Academy and the Technical Institute, even though both of these schools were thought to have performed excellently in producing highly trained, disciplined and very ambitious young black men. To what extent are the issues today with young black males influenced by the absence of institutions like Howard and the Technical Institute?

In the ideal situation, the institutions of the family, education and religion work together to prepare the young to staff and manage all aspects of the national economy. The fact that Bermuda imports more than a third of the persons required to staff and manage our two most important industries - tourism and international finance - certainly indicates that the institutions discussed are not succeeding in carrying out this responsibility as far as young black males are concerned.

Doubters as to the truth of this statement need only to look at the management of the establishments that comprise and support these industries to realise that black males have been seriously overlooked as potential candidates for leadership roles.

To the extent that society needs to change in order to accommodate the ambitions and aspirations of young black males, the form of the civil government (polity) comes into play. The leaders of the political institutions can make a drastic difference in the extent to which the other institutions can be effective. This has been noted with respect to the discussion of the education and economic systems.

There are many other instances for which the political system can have a marked influence on the behaviour and attitudes of young black males. For instance, the hotels can be encouraged to invest more heavily in Bermuda by putting a moratorium on the addition of new hotels, thereby increasing the profitability of existing hotels and providing the incentive and funding to invest locally in both plant and staff. Further, a reduced reliance on imported labour can be effected by increasing the age of retirement. These are only two examples of the strategies that the political leadership can adopt that would make a difference, almost immediately, in the extent to which young black males are involved in the management of Bermuda's own industries.

No country can expect to survive without a healthy respect and support for the forces of law and order. But the successful performance of a Police service or the military in the context of a democratic state requires total support by the community. Yet, in order for this community support to be forthcoming, there must be widespread belief that the laws being enforced have been legislated to protect the community's best interests. Is this likely to be the view of Bermudians who for many decades have been subject to the imposition of legislation designed generally to protect the interests of the merchant class?

In conclusion, it is clear that there is reason to believe that the so-called marginalisation of the black male is a reflection of serious deficiencies in the institutions designed to prevent such an occurrence. Since all of the institutions of our society are intimately involved in the creation of the problem, all must be involved in its solution.

While it is true that it is a minority of young Black males that are actually committing the outrages that are becoming daily occurrences, it is equally true that all of us are guilty of the indifference to and even support for the disruptive behaviour of this minority.

As a society, we need to review in depth the performance of our institutions in order to devise strategies that will reduce to insignificance the likelihood that young black males will be involved in disruptive, life threatening behaviour. As a start on the road to develop corrective strategies, we might take up the suggestion of Mr. Rolfe Commissiong and initiate an a Royal Commission to determine the causes of and solutions to the obvious dysfunctional behaviour of a small but growing number of young black Bermudians males.

calvin@therock.bm