The following is CURB president Lynne Winfield's presentation to the African Diaspora Heritage Trail Conference on the topic of "Racism and Racial justice in a majority black environment", on Saturday.

During a race relations forum in 2008 a black friend remarked that a certain senior white Bermudian politician was "living up the river." Never having heard of this I had to ask her to explain what she meant.

Well the river in question was "the Nile". That river "Denial" doesn't only operate in the individual mind, but also in the collective awareness of a group. In order to be a part of the group there is a tacit understanding not to rock the boat, not to notice one's own feelings of uneasiness and misgiving, and certainly not to challenge the group think.

As whites we must have the courage to seek the truth in order to save us from this opiate of self deception. We must learn ways to speak out against racism whenever we see it raise its head as a stereotype, joke, or the many other myriad ways we manage to cloak it. White Bermudians are struggling with the changes occurring in our society. Black Bermudians now for the first time in 350 years are behaving like the majority they have been for 200 years.

And white Bermudians for the first time, are beginning to experience what it is like to be a minority and, as with any change, it is resisted because it is unknown, unsettling, confusing and frightening. Many white people on the island believe race relations have grown worse, yet according to a 2008 racism survey carried out by CURB, for every white person who thinks race relations is worse, more black people think that it is better. How can we live so close to each other and work together but have such a different picture of reality? I believe that this difference in perceptions can be put down to primarily two things:

1) The election of the PLP in 1998 gradually led many black Bermudians to a place where they no longer fear retribution for speaking out and, naturally, a few, whose temperaments lean that way, are speaking out loud their anger, which whites have never had to deal with before, and

2) Unlike many whites who view talking about racism as just going over ancient history and stirring up discontent, many blacks see the discussion around race as liberating and validating.

Governments took their eye off the racism problem. They worked on dismantling segregation, gave voting rights to everyone, improved representation, but never dealt with the economic disparity, which arose directly from the legacy of racism and ongoing structural racism. Historically, whites have been indoctrinated with negative images of blacks, their abilities and their culture. We forget that Blacks too have been indoctrinated the same way, as they live in the same society, and receive the same messages, and therefore to some extent have accepted, perhaps unknowingly, that doctrine.

This legacy continues to affect both the black and white psyche. Historically, for hundreds of years, racist attitudes have been harsh, pervasive, and so psychologically damaging that it has led to racism being turned inward in the black community; unconsciously agreeing with some of the conditioning; internalising the messages of racism; and in turn leading to the mistreatment of themselves and other members of their group in the same ways that they were mistreated as the targets of racism. In the white community, we live in a safe cocoon that keeps vital truths from our collective awareness. We live with institutionalised racism but we cannot see the benefits it gives us and deny its existence.

We choose not to notice that statistically a vast majority of people catching buses are Black; that the majority incarcerated are Black; and that our legal system hands down harsher penalties to Blacks than Whites for similar offences. There is a failure to recognise that the social problems we are experiencing today (most of which are occurring within the Black community) are intertwined with our legacy of racism and the resultant economic disparity. Racism is not going to just give up and go away. No longer overt, it has morphed into something else; changing to fit into today's more polite and politically correct society. Insidious it has gone underground, melting into our businesses to rear its head in outdated hiring practices, stereotypes and so-called cultural misunderstandings. Every time we allow our 'comfort zone' to interfere in our interview or hiring practices, and a white candidate is chosen over a black candidate because we have a "feeling" that they will fit in better, we are walking in the legacy of racism.

Every time a private school allows alumni's sons, daughters, siblings, etc. to fill up the spaces available… they are perpetuating a system of racism. Yes it is history… yes it has always been done that way… but why? Because it was part of a system, put in place by people long ago to ensure that unwanted people would not be allowed in. So why do we continue to blindly follow such antiquated and unfair practices? The excuse that "it's always been done that way" no longer cuts it.

CURB believes that change comes from the people up, and through education and advocacy we are beginning to see societal shifts in perception and understanding. More people, both Black and White, are participating in CURB workshops, dialogues and presentations, and there appears to be a greater understanding that we must first acknowledge the full truth of our past in order to find a way to move forward as a united people.

We are no longer invisible to each other, we are in the same room, speaking honestly and trying to work things out. By getting together, dialoguing and freely talking about the issues that have kept us apart for so long; seeking ways to honour all Bermudians that have gone before us; and learning our history from an inclusive perspective, there will be a freeing-up of the fear; a normalisation of the conversation around race; a sharing of experiences; a realisation of each other's humanity; all of which lead us on a journey towards truth and reconciliation as a people.

Lynne Winfield is President of Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda (CURB), a non-governmental, volunteer, grassroots organisation working for racial justice and racial equity.