THERE are some who would like to characterise the recent Parliamentary flare-up between Premier Ewart Brown and Opposition backbencher Dr. Grant Gibbons as a defining moment in modern Bermudian race relations. While the pointed exchange may or may not be symptomatic of the real state of race relations in Bermuda, we should not delude ourselves into thinking that if blacks and whites are simply more civil to one another then the island would be well on its way to healing its longstanding racial divide.

Before the Christmas holiday, I discussed some aspects of contemporary race relations in the United States and the hidden racist impulses in the white psyche that still manifest themselves from time to time. I specifically cited recent incidents involving former US Education Secretary Bill Bennett and comedian Michael Richards to underscore the fact that even if we have succeeded ? as appears to be the case ? in cutting down the tree that bears the poison fruit of racism, its roots still lie deep in the soil of the US and other so-called multi-racial or multi- cultural socities.

This week I would like to turn my attention to the state of race relations in Bermuda. Recently, with some enforced time on my hands because of a medical condition, I was able to read a fascinating new study on the cultural and social realities of modern race relations ? and how certain deeply ingrained stereotypes and preconceptions still impact on people of colour.

The book was entitled and although ? as the title makes clear ? it was examining the condition of newly affluent blacks in the US, there are many parallels with the Bermudian situation.

When it comes to racism and how it is experienced by people of colour in different Western societies, there are only differences of degree and historical and cultural circumstances. Essentially, the blunt-force impact of racism as it exists in the West is the same in all societies. Many common factors combine to unite peoples in many different countries who undergo the same race-based experiences.

The book begins with an acknowledgement that many readers ? particularly white readers ? may be shocked by its findings that even well-off African-Americans, those people who are deemed to have succeeded, still harbour disaffection, pessimism, even raw anger at the state of race relations in the US. The legacy of discrimination still haunts even someof the best educated and most affluent American blacks ? its not a defeatist mindset that belongs solely to those blacks who remain trapped and struggling on the margins of society and who make up the American underclass.

Author Ellis Cose interviewed scores of successful African-Americans during the course of his research ? men and women drawn from a variety of professions who all told stories about their continuing experiences with racism and its corrosive impact on their lives, their careers and their children's futures. And they also spoke frankly to the author about the painful insensitivity the white community continues to demonstrate towards blacks.

Now at this point some of you may be tempted to say that this level of racism does not exist in Bermuda, that the social and cultural climate being described cease to exist here many decades ago. But as I mentioned at the outset, while the tree of racism may no longer be in evidence in Bermudian society, the roots lay hidden under the soil just as they do in other multi-cultural communities.

As it happens, while I was reading Ellis Cose's book a Letter to The Editor appeared in written by a young, black Bermudian professional. Its contents bore a striking resemblance to some of the personal testimonies collected by the American writer/researcher and which can be found in the pages of.

Suzette Harvey has long run her own successful dance studio ? one of the leading facilities of its kind in Bermuda. Yet she had reason to believe that a recently formed dance organisation ? an umbrella organisation which includes many other local dance schools ? saw fit not to invite her to participate.

Now to date no explanation had been forthcoming from this organisation as to why Ms Harvey's school was not included. Given this national dance organisation may in the longterm help its members in terms of securing better financial backing, Ms Harvey has good reason to be concerned about her exclusion.

Ms Harvey's school has allowed many of the island's finest young dancers to gain experience overseas and all of her teachers are qualified dance instructors. The indisputable quality of her work is on public display at the many shows she puts on.

She suspects the reason she has been snubbed is because her dance school is unashemedly Afrocentric in its outlook and curriculum. But no one who has ever seen one of her shows could say Ms Harvey excludes other aspects of dance ? ranging from jazz to pop/hip-hop to European ballet. Her shows include it all.

Perhaps it was not rage that prompted her to write her letter but I for one could certainly detect a profound sense of disappointment on the part of this talented young black Bermudian who has struggled for years to be successful in her chosen field but yet who is seemingly being denied her due in her own country. She certainly appears to believe the whole affair stems from race-based factors.

This is not the only example ? this is not the only recent case where educated, professional young black Bermudians who were born many years after the end of officially sanctioned segregation have felt themselves being victimised by its latterday manifestations.

Newly appointed Government Senator Wayne Caines voiced similar sentiments when he talked about young Bermudians being denied their rightful place in the island's new, supercharged economy and not being given a full and fair opportunity to demonstrate their worth. It's hard to imagine that the majority of the people he was referring to are not in fact black.

The question therefore arises ? what are we going to do about this situation? Do we need to embark on a second Civil Rights struggle to tear up the roots of racism in our island community?

That may very well be what we have to do. And to be sure, this continuing situation will has implications and ramifications that go far, far beyond the fiery exchange which we witnessed recently on the floor of the House of Assembly between Dr. Brown and Dr. Gibbons.

For as I continue to maintain, black people in this country have grown weary of having to shoulder all of the responsibility for healing Bermuda's racial wounds. We are tired of going it alone. So when it comes to our collective future the choice really is yours, white Bermuda.