RECENT comments made by columnist Phillip Wells (A Limey in Bermuda), concerning the merits of the Ashay Rites of Passage programme at Dellwood Middle School, has prompted me to challenge some of his assumptions about the usefulness of the programme as it pertains to the multiracial character of Bermudian society.

At first glance it would seem that Mr. Wells was prepared to point out some of the positive aspects of the Ashay programme, but it soon became clear that 'Limey' was more interested in attacking a programme whose central focus is intended to be the historical experience of black people.

While the experiences of black people may have varied through the years, depending on their personal situation and the times and historical circumstances in which they lived, there are common threads that have run through most of these historical experiences: racism, colonialism, economic exploitation and an attempt to deny the common humanity of black people on this planet, whether in Africa, or the "New World" to which our ancestors were shipped; a hemispheric reality of slavery, murder, rape, and inhumanity which encompassed most of North and South America, the islands of the Caribbean and Bermuda.

Any book or academic endeavour or programme that seeks to examine the historical reality of a people or peoples must focus on the experiences of these people. Why should any apology be necessary for wanting to understand the totality of our historical experience?

In quoting Mrs. Van Putten, when she stated that black people don't know who they are, don't know their own history or that of their African ancestors, Mr. Wells questioned whether these matters were important.

I must answer Mr. Wells in the affirmative. Yes, these matters are important because for many years, for generations in fact, others either ignored our history or attempted to interpret our history for us.

An oppressed people can never expect the oppressor to view them or their history in a positive light, and it has been a sad reality over centuries or millennia that those who have exercised untrammelled power over others have always used that power to denigrate, demean and de-humanise those they have oppressed. This is true not only of black people, but of all peoples who have found themselves under similar circumstances.

Limey in Bermuda calls for certain references to be deleted from the Ashay work book. Is he saying that black Bermudians should not recognise their African ancestry, a historical experience which saw generations of slavery and racial discrimination in this country. It is a legacy which is still with us today, and as a result we continue to see ourselves as a common people.

While I agree that certain aspects of the historical experiences of African-Americans may not relate directly or specifically to the experience of blacks in Bermuda, the differences should not be granted great prominence ? I submit that such differences as exist are only a matter of degree, and that the historical experiences of black Bermudians have much in common with those of African-Americans when it comes to the overall impact of racism.

When Limey in Bermuda states that certain things should be eliminated from the Ashay work book, does he do so because it is also used by non-blacks? Is he calling for a continuation of the big lie about Bermuda's history and that of the world in general?

Do school children in Scotland and in Wales and Ireland not learn the full historical truth of how their ancestors became part of the United Kingdom? I believe they do. Is the violent and brutal conquest of their lands by the English downplayed and not written in history books because that history is also read in England by English school children? I think not.

It is certainly true that a full knowledge of that history helped create revolutionaries in Ireland, and the creation of the independent Irish Republic. The issue has yet to be settled conclusively in Northern Ireland, but I have yet to hear talk of independence movements being stirred in either Scotland or Wales because school children were able to learn the truth of their history by reading it in their school books.

Every ethnic group that has come to this country has created its own networks. The members of each group have shared information and worked to enhance their own community, and have developed economic relationships within their groups.

The Portuguese community is celebrated for it, yet Limey in Bermuda would suggest that black Bermudians should not think along those lines, and he seems to fear that the Ashay programme would help black Bermudians do what every other ethnic group has done throughout their history in Bermuda; engender a sense of community and self-determination which would be beneficial not only for black Bermudians but which would work for the betterment of the entire country.

Like many white commentators, the mind of Limey in Bermuda becomes befuddled when the question of reparation is raised for the descendants of the victims of slavery and racial discrimination. Yet it is doubtful if he does not understand the concept when it comes to the Jewish people who have received reparations for their treatment at the hands of the Nazis.

But one understands why the West does not want to broach the question of reparation for slavery ? if they had to meet the real cost in blood and labour and misery, it would empty the treasuries of many countries; they would face years of shortfall for the debt owed to the peoples of African descent.

As to the question of the existence of black people in Bermuda's history, at long last being taught in Bermuda's schools, and whether this is something that Bermuda should consider itself to be proud of ? not to my mind.

Better late than never, but it has taken until the 21st century to face the truth of Bermuda's history, and I am not sure if we have reached the point where that history is being taught in its true context.

Certainly if Limey in Bermuda had his way, such a history would be taught with due respect to the sensibilities of those whose role in that history is cause for shame. Facts are stubborn things, and history must be presented and taught fully and honestly.

If not, then we who are alive today and the children who follow us will fail to learn the shared reality of our history. It is a clich?, but it is true that those who do not learn from history are often doomed to repeat it. We can never walk down that historical path again, and anyone trying to cover up the divisions of the past is only likely to help perpetuate division into the future.