The recent Employment Survey and the recent stories in The Royal Gazette on income disparities between blacks and whites in Bermuda points up the issue that remains at the heart of the Island's racial divide.

That the income gap remains wide between white and black Bermudians, even if it is somewhat narrower than between all residents, makes it more clear that this is a serious problem that needs to be addressed.

What is most concerning is that the gap has shown little sign of narrowing over the last five years or more.

If one starts with the assumption that blacks and whites are equally talented, and one must, then the search for other causes – and thus solutions – becomes critical.

Employers, apparently concerned that they are being accused of paying a white person more than a black person for the same work, tend to be defensive. But that seems to be a rare occurrence, and where it happens, it is clearly discriminatory and can and must be stamped out.

There have also been some criticisms of the methodology employed to calculate the median incomes in the Employment Survey and in the CURE surveys. Certainly, the Employers Council study, the Shift, comes to somewhat different conclusions.

But the stark reality is that, taken over the whole Island, there is a clear gap in incomes between blacks and whites.

That is in spite of anecdotal evidence of progress; two of the four major accounting firms have black senior or managing partners. A substantial number of major local Bermuda companies are headed by black Bermudians. A growing number of blacks have senior roles in international companies. Progress in the civil service has been enormous.

Still, there is no question that improvement is uneven. To what degree that is caused by overt or subconscious racism or "unearned privilege" is not clear.

If 1959, the year of the Theatre Boycott, is taken as the point when segregation began to collapse, it has to be accepted that 50 years of movement towards non-discrimination and equality of opportunity has not been long enough to reverse 350 years of slavery and legalised discrimination.

Great strides have been made, but much more needs to be done. The question now is how?

There is no question that the recent struggles of the education system have contributed to the problem, rather than reduced it. Well meaning efforts to make education more accessible have had the opposite effect of making public education generally more mediocre. That has a direct and negative effect on earning abilities.

In the meantime, there has been a flight of wealthier parents to private schools. If a disproportionate number of wealthier parents are white, and private schools provide a superior education, then this reinforces the wealth gap over the long term, especially in an economy that demands and rewards more highly skilled workers.

So better and more rigorous education has to be a part of the answer. The difficulty is that changes – and positive changes are now being implemented – take time to take effect. What is being done for a five-year-old today will not effect much change in terms of income for decades, although children in middle or secondary school will benefit sooner.

So other initiatives are needed. One is the economic empowerment zone in North Hamilton. Finance Minister Paula Cox is looking at a new zone for St. George's. Somerset Village is another obvious beneficiary as a commercial area that has been in chronic decline for the better part of too long.

Rolfe Commissiong, consultant to the Premier, says that the controversial Workplace Equity Act, last raised before the 2007 election, will be looked at again. Affirmative action programmes have always been controversial. US President Barack Obama noted in his Philadelphia speech in 2008 when he said of white Americans: "When they hear that an African-American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed … resentment builds.

"But that resentment has to be seen in the context of black Americans who suffered, and perhaps suffer still, decades of discrimination and segregation, who have every reason to resent as much or more."

Those same issues play out in Bermuda.

There are no easy answers to this challenge – the greatest facing the Island – but answers must be found.

President Obama said in the same speech last year: "In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination – and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past – are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds."

And President Obama concluded: "It requires all Americans to realise that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper."

It is not clear what else is needed to narrow the wealth gap in Bermuda. But what is essential is that there be an honest study and debate on it by the whole community. Only when this gap is bridged will Bermuda solve its racial issues and close the book on its racial legacy.