Government is to introduce initiatives tackling the issue of race relations in Bermuda in next month?s Throne Speech.

?Race has always been a quagmire,? Premier Alex Scott said when discussing the issue briefly on Friday night.

Bermudians currently hold a ?tremendous sensitivity? towards the thorny issue of race, he added. ?We need to create a climate where we can openly discuss it and move on.?

The Premier himself was recently accused of racism after he mistakenly sent an e-mail meant for his Director of Communications Beverle Lottimore to white tourism activist Tony Brannon declaring he was ?tired of listening to and taking crap from people who look and sound like? Mr. Brannon.

Days later Mr. Scott declared in an advertisement in local media that the tone of the e-mail had not been racist, citing quotes from Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde. He also apologised for using the word ?crap?, and cited a list of grievances against the media, saying ?this is not the way to unite us?.

While not discussing that incident directly on Friday night, Mr. Scott said the current hypersensitivity towards race in Bermuda has led to claims of incidents carrying racial overtones when they are ?really not necessarily caused or even an effect of that condition?.

In his advertisement, the Premier promised the Throne Speech would ?include a major initiative to address those elements that seek to divide us?.

??Freedom of Speech? is not free; it comes with both responsibility and accountability,? he declared ? promptly begging the question of whether Government was seeking to censor the media in the Throne Speech.

Government later stated that was not the intention of the initiative. When pressed for further details on what the Throne Speech will say and how it will address the issue of race, however, Mr. Scott refused to divulge more information, limiting his response to: ?Stay tuned?.