Dear Sir,

Jonathan Smith’s book, Island In Flames, will hopefully bring new awareness of the dealings during a turbulent period of our history.

The early Seventies were indicative of the transitional period from colonialism towards greater self-autonomy in governance and also a search for racial pride for a beleaguered people.

Of course, there was much more nuance and pieces when you look at the pervasive issue of race and subjugation, which also had reached its limitation of tolerance by that time.

The issues were not just confined to Bermuda; they were universal and nothing can be said of the events of that period in Bermuda without reflection on the broader global picture.

These were serious murders, no less than those of Martin Luther King, John F Kennedy, Malcolm X and the likes. When you examine enough parts, they were no less intriguing as well as having equal potential of conspiracy theories. Notwithstanding, we cannot take away the emotions of the period and absolve them from the potential of such acts.

We are now a little more than 40 years on from the murders and an era rife with such expressions, and no one would want to believe that we haven’t got beyond the attitudes and challenges of that era.

Certainly, black people no longer feel or are made to feel inferior in their own skins. Certainly, no man of any race today walks with an air of superiority or indifference towards any other person. So is it all over now, with playing fields all level and nothing to worry about?

As a black person looks at the city and sees all the main streets are laden with buildings and business owned by whites, they would naturally realise that it’s not these folks’ fault that they are in that tremendous position of ownership. They certainly could not blame their present success and ability to thrive as being racist.

Conversely, for the most part blacks will be seen as owning relatively little in the major portions of the city and, where they do predominate, the buildings are mostly outdated and in need of significant upgrades.

While it is the case they may feel so, it doesn’t mean that by comparison blacks are truly inferior and incapable of the same successes.

However, it’s when you think the tables are even and therefore the road to success is the same for everyone and therefore use policy guidelines based on that assumption, then it’s that form of nearsightedness that causes a throwback to attitudes similar in effect to repression.

Systemic naivety creates the same damaging effects as abject, racial bigotry. Having zero commitment to restorative justice or the ideals of equality today equates with the bigots of yesterday. That truth is as applicable even in economies that are monocultures with no race diversities but are polarised by wealthy families and class. It becomes more overt when race is the matter.

You cannot legislate wealth creation for an economic underclass or cause people to see opportunity when they are not inclined to look. However, when they do, the potential of cumulative benefit caused by these good examples must not just be encouraged but enhanced.

All the politics of today, as it was in the Seventies, is about having a real place in the economy. The release of Island In Flames has given us the permission to remind ourselves of what is aching at our core.

We all want to survive and each government elected was elected on the hope and promise that they will deliver and are thought to understand each of our needs.

Failure to comprehend this real human need puts governments and leaders at risk. While the world and not just the island was in flames, the Governor and his aide-de-camp paid the ultimate price.

KHALID WASI