THE Progressive Labour Party (PLP) "fanned the flames of racism" in an election campaign based on "white irrelevance", Opposition Senate Leader Kim Swan has claimed.

Printed material implying that United Bermuda Party (UBP) candidates wanted to "carry out the slavemaster's agenda" had appeared on sports club notice boards and had been distributed in the mail, he said.

And Sen. Swan said it was time for Bermuda to stage a Race Relations Commission to tackle head-on the racial problems which the community was reluctant to address.

Sen. Swan contested the St. George's West seat for the United Bermuda Party in the July 24 General Election, but was edged out by 22 votes by the PLP's Dean Foggo.

Speaking about the PLP's national campaign, Sen. Swan said: "The PLP ran a campaign based on white irrelevance. It was racially offensive and was clearly geared towards the black vote.

"From an electoral point of view, 72 percent of the electorate are non-white, so their aim was to get the lion's share of that vote.

"People like myself - black people standing for the UBP - they were saying that we were carrying out the slavemaster's agenda. And this type of thing was appearing on cricket club bulletin boards and in messages sent in the mail to people.

"Who would want to fan the flames of racism? Only people who think it would give them some benefit."

He said the campaign had played on "racial insecurities" and such polarisation did not serve the best interests of the island.

Mr. Swan said even some of the churches had backed the PLP campaign with some racially charged preaching. He suggested that the church should be more interested in promoting tolerance rather than division. "I know that in some churches, they were preaching that people 'should not go back to Egypt'," said Mr. Swan. "That is, they had been led out of slavery by Moses and should not go back.

"Maybe they should have brought up the New Testament and Jesus Christ, who walked the Earth seeing the best in people and taught tolerance and understanding."

During his career in professional golf, Mr. Swan was on the receiving end of racism, particularly when he played tournaments in the southern states of the US in the 1970s. In some tournaments, he was a pioneer as the first black golfer to have participated.

The desire to fight racism was a major reason why Mr. Swan first became involved in politics. When he was a first-year student at Berkeley Institute, he particiapted in a school sports boycott to protest against the exclusion of black studies in the school curriculum. He went on to represent Warwick Secondary at the Bermuda Youth Parliament.

He campaigned for the UBP with the likes of Ralph Marshall and Harry Viera in the 1970s and he first stood as a candidate in the 1980s. Throughout his involvement, he said race had been a an integral part of politics.

"A big part of the problem is that Bermuda is in denial that the problem exists," said Mr. Swan. "It is not something concrete, not something you can put your hands on.

"But when an Auditor General produces a report and the Government doesn't like it and they pull out the race card, then it's clear the problem does exist.

"That's why I believe we need a Race Relations Commission, to allow politicians, scholars and members of the public to come forward, put their cards on the table and say how they feel.

"First we need to acknowledge that the problem exists. Bermuda has never come to terms with its racial problems because people are afraid to talk about it. And because people are in denial, the racism problem has been allowed to take on a direction of its own.

"And while we allow the problem to fester, it will not allow Bermuda to move forward.

"People have to believe that it's not okay to say racist things just because they are behind closed doors."

Racism in Bermuda affected the community like a computer virus affected a computer system, said Mr. Swan, permeating all aspects of life.

He said he had support from some of his political colleagues on the need for a Race Relations Commission.

But he said a bi-partisan approach was needed to tackle racism and even a debate on the need for a commission would help the island to face up to the facts.