This week's series in The Royal Gazette on the 30th anniversary of the 1977 riots has drawn some mixed reactions from the public.

Many people have welcomed the series, especially younger people who were not aware of the details of the events of early December.

Others have been concerned that the series, which ends today, may be inflammatory, or will dig up memories of a difficult time in Bermuda's history.

The Royal Gazette was aware that these concerns could arise as a result of publication in the middle of the general election campaign and took them seriously.

It is worth noting that the planning of this series preceded the election call. Even so, the newspaper could have decided it was unnecessary to look back at this tragic chapter at this time.

But that would have meant ignoring an important time in Bermuda's history, its ramifications and the lessons that were and are being learned today.

A great many important lessons were learned as a result of the riots. The most important fact of all is that there has not been serious civil unrest since.

There are no doubt a number of reasons for that. As Premier Alex Scott noted yesterday, both the Government and the community generally saw the dangers of engaging in brinksmanship and waiting for the other side to blink.

Instead all of Bermuda looked over the precipice and subsequently drew back, having taken a collective decision not to take the plunge into an abyss.

Secondly, the then-United Bermuda Party Government learned that it had to be more inclusive and it had to focus much more sharply on economic disparities between the races than had been the case.

This was something that had been done in the 1960s, but had waned in the 1970s, not least because of a sustained leadership fight within the UBP. But with the help of the Pitt Commission recommendations, the UBP did reinforce its commitment to social improvement in the late 1970s and especially in the early years of Sir John Swan's Premiership in the 1980s.

That Bermuda was able to step back from the brink and work together to improve society is a good lesson today, when political tensions are again high. Improving the "commonwealth" is always a work in progress. Both thinking and needs change as communities evolve. What may have seemed to be the whole solution in 1968 or in 1977, or even in 1998, may not suffice today.

But what is important is that Bermuda uses the formal and informal institutions it has to debate and work out the solutions that will work for this small island community.

And it is vitally important that the powers that be, whoever they are, listen to the voiceless, retain open minds and ensure that the decisions they make are in the interests of all.

Just as in 1977, Bermuda cannot afford to go to the precipice, let alone jump.