?It is obvious to me that the Independence debate is actually a debate about racism?. So declares John Zuill in the letters column of the Royal Gazette published May 5, 2004. I agree with Mr. Zuill that the independence debate is befuddled by racial distrust.

However, I believe that Bermudians prefer not to discuss the issue openly because of a real fear that their frankness will be interpreted as an example of racism. However, I think this fear is groundless. I believe that racial issues can be discussed openly, if we examine the historical reality without assigning blame to existing generations. I will attempt to do this in the following analysis.

I wish to begin by defining the terms racism and independence. I understand racism as the situation when one race is antagonistic towards another race. The antagonism might arise out of a fundamental prejudice that has been allowed to grow and fester. For example, in Bermuda, negative attitudes towards slaves, who were predominantly black, was developed into racism to the extent that for many decades, Black Bermudians found themselves at a serious economic disadvantage.

I view independence as the situation for which Bermuda is not subject to decisions by England, or any other state, in order to validate its own decisions. This does not mean that Bermuda will not be influenced by England. It only means that when Bermuda takes a decision on social or economic policy that decision does not have to be ratified by England in order to become law or policy.

Until November 8, 1998, the government of Bermuda was dominated by white Bermudians. This follows from the fact that during the UBP?s long tenure as government of Bermuda, blacks were a minority within the UBP Parliamentary group. In fact, the first time the UBP had an elected black majority in Parliament was after the election of 2003.

The economic dominance of white Bermudians is being replaced by a growing influence of white owned foreign corporations. This means that black Bermudians may now find it easier to advance up the corporate ladder but their chances of owning the resources have been greatly diminished.

Historically, this dominance of Bermuda both economically and politically by white Bermudians has been perpetuated with the unstinting support of England. Slavery was, after all, designed to enable the leaders of imperial England to secure a steady supply of cheap labour in order to develop their colonies.

The products of the colonies, which were usually in the form of food and raw materials, would be exported to England to be used as inputs in a manufacturing process designed to produce goods to be sold throughout the world.

Within the colonies, the extraction of raw materials and the production of food were solely in the hands of the descendants of English citizens and any European who decided to take up residence in the colony. Later when slavery was abolished, segregation and unabashed racist policies ensured that people of European ancestry remained the dominant group in colonial societies.

The evolution of Bermuda towards a democracy has been a process whereby Bermuda?s former slaves have fought to remove entrenched racist policies in order to gain equal access to the economy. The major strategy used by blacks to achieve their goals was to increase their political power.

Complete control of the political process was achieved by black Bermudians as a result of the 1998 election. Since 1998, the following important changes have occurred in Bermuda?s political and economic organisation: Political power is now securely under the control of Black Bermudians who owe very little allegiance to the existing white leadership.

Further, some black Bermudians have made significant inroads in terms of control of major economic resources, as for instance, the control of Bermuda?s largest retail drug outlet and the erection of substantial apartment and business complexes. Finally, some white Bermudian owners of economic resources have sold out to foreign corporations.

Glaring examples of significant asset transfers have been the purchase of the Bank of Bermuda by HSBC and the entry of AT&T into our telecommunications industry.

The full impact of the political change has not been internalised by many black Bermudians. Although black Bermudians are at last in a position to remove all artificial hindrances to their economic advancement, far too many behave as if nothing has changed.

White Bermudians, at least at the leadership level, are all too aware that there has been a substantial power shift. Evidence of this awareness is the increasing unloading of their assets to willing purchasers in the form of foreign corporations.

Based on this very cursory analysis, it is easy to see why white Bermudians fear independence rather more than their Black fellow citizens. They see England as their protector against an increasingly powerful black majority. Yet, blacks also have fears about Independence and believe it or not, their fears are based on the self doubt engendered by centuries of racism.

Deep inside the psyche of too many Black Bermudians is the nagging question ?Can those ?byes? really handle the finances?? This concern has persisted despite the fact that the Civil Service of the Government of Bermuda has been managed almost entirely by black Bermudians for much of the time the UBP was in power and during the entire time of the PLP?s term of office.

It is also true that many of the black civil servants in the Ministry of Finance are eminently more qualified to carry out their duties than their white predecessors.

This is because white Bermudians with the qualifications of the Blacks who now manage the Civil Service can easily find a lucrative career in the private sector. What is the probable impact of existing racism on Bermuda?s future? It could be bad, it could be good. In order for the impact to be good, racism needs to stop being a criterion for action.

There is the nagging question that haunts many White Bermudians: ?Can we expect Blacks who are now in the driver?s seat politically, to act fairly to members of the race that has subjugated them for generations??

I believe this fear is groundless based on the PLP?s performance during its short term of office. For instance, the PLP has enacted the Hotel Concessions Act which has benefited major white owned hotels both Bermudian and Foreign; the PLP has appointed white males as head of the civil service, chairman of the Hospital Board, and Deputy Head of the Board of Education.

In fact it has been initiatives such as these that have led many PLP members to believe that the PLP are acting like UBP ?wannabes?. I believe that the examples I have given support my argument that as a government, the PLP has demonstrated very evenly balanced political and economic management of Bermuda.

I conclude, therefore, if Bermuda is to survive as a successful economic entity, the onus is on White Bermudians to make a greater effort in assisting the PLP government in guiding Bermuda to a place where race ceases to be a factor in the achievement of national political and economic goals.

If white Bermudians do not join in this worthy effort very quickly, the blacks who run the political process may make the unfortunate discovery that racism is nice as long as your race is in charge.

@EDITRULE:

calvintherock.bm.