"Democracy is the worst political system in the world except for all the rest," was a statement oft quoted by my professor of Politics 101 at Queens University, Canada.

At the time I couldn't appreciate the remarks of the professor since I entered Queens in the fall of 1954 at which time Bermuda was anything but a democracy.

In fact, although Bermuda was a colony under the administration of the United Kingdom, a country that actually boasted that it was one of the earliest democracies, Bermuda was so far from being based upon the principles of democracy that the tourist brochures of the period, prior to the 1960s, carried the proud boast that Bermuda was not a democracy.

It is no doubt very difficult for Bermudians under the age of 30 to believe that democracy as it now stands – one man, one vote of equal value – is an innovation introduced by the PLP government in the election of 2003.

In the decades prior to the advent of the PLP to power in 1998, most Bermudians actually believed that our political system, with its severely restricted franchise, was the best in the world. The basis for this belief was the fact that only those with ability and real economic and/or political power ever got the chance to participate in the political leadership.

Of course, being excluded from the political leadership certainly did not help those so excluded to participate in the economic leadership of the country.

Yet, many black Bermudians declared with deep conviction that our system was the best for black people since they believed also that black Bermudians could not manage the government or business corporations without the help of our white fellow citizens.

White fellow citizens? That too was a misnomer since our so-called 'white fellow citizens' enjoyed privileges that their black counterparts could only dream about.

Surprisingly, the black Bermudian's belief that he could not run his own country persisted despite the fact that major countries in the Caribbean enjoyed a substantial degree of self-government even though they also were under the government of England and were over 95 percent black.

However, since these islands were plantation economies which meant that only small black elite existed who could claim that their existence was equal to that of many of the whites, they were just as likely to treat their downtrodden black brothers in similar fashion as their white counterparts.

This state of affairs began to change as the black elite of the Caribbean began to realise that running a government had nothing to do with colour but with having the control of legislature. Once they realised this not so obvious truth, they applied pressure on England to extend the franchise to all persons aged 21 and over.

Once that right was acquired, the black elite of the major Caribbean islands joined trade unions and rode the union movement to acquire political control of their countries.

While the leadership of the Caribbean was laying the foundations of free states that would one day be truly democratic, Bermudians were content to leave the government in the hands of Bermuda's white minority ably supported by the mother country.

This political situation enabled the economy to remain almost completely in the hands of the white minority who were backed up by financial systems that were also under their control, virtually to the exclusion of the members of the black majority.

Armed with the security of political and economic domination, it is little wonder that the local white elite maintained completely in control of Bermuda throughout most of the 20th century.

Surprisingly, whatever 'dents' that were made in the control of the economic and political systems were made in large part by West-Indian immigrants.

Mr. Dick Richards, a Guyanese, built an empire on lower Reid Street at the beginning of the 20th century. About the middle of the same century, Mr. Frederick Yearwood had similar success in accumulating enormous wealth in the field of real estate.

In the political field, there is no one who would disagree that Dr. E. F. Gordon, a native of Trinidad, was the driving force behind political democracy in Bermuda. His success was backed up by Sir Edward Richards, another Guyanese, who became Bermuda's first black Premier.

Unfortunately, Bermudians of colour have little appreciation for the contribution of Sir Edward towards political liberalisation in Bermuda.

Sir Edward became the Premier because he was an important leader of the UBP who had created a policy that the premiership would rotate between a black and a white Premier.

Sir Henry Tucker was the first Premier under the extended franchise and introduction of party government in 1968. After his retirement, Sir Edward took up the reins of power as Bermuda's second Premier and first black Premier.

Sir Edward, more than any other leader of that period, fully understood the impact of racism upon the will of Bermudians to attempt to attain positions of real political power.

Hence, during his tenure, he made up his mind to give the black members of the UBP the most complex ministries of government with the objective of showing black Bermudian children that they could aspire to any position in government.

To this end, he appointed Quinton Edness as Minister of Marine and Ports. When in private conversation I questioned this appointment, he responded, "Calvin, the civil service runs these government departments. The responsibility of the Minister is to make certain that the Civil servants are following the policy directives of the UBP."

He assured me that his black members of the UBP all had considerable ability to run the ministries of government and that at the first opportunity he would make a black man Minister of Finance.

Unfortunately, he never got this opportunity. However, Sir John Swan after winning a hotly contested fight with Dr. Clarence James for the UBP leadership, appointed Dr. James as Minister of Finance – the first black to serve in that position.

There can be no question that the emergence of black Bermudians as the controllers of the Government of Bermuda owes a lot to the impact of West Indian immigrants on the political process. If one goes back to the constitutional change of 1968 when Bermuda adopted a party system of government, they will find a West Indian ancestor for nearly all the black members of parliament.

Surprisingly, this success was achieved despite an enduring dislike of Bermudians and West-Indians for each other.

Still, this dislike diminishes greatly with the appearance of the first generation to be born in Bermuda.

Fortunately, the children of West Indians continue to be beneficiaries of an enduring belief that was strongly held by their parents. That is that education and effort will overcome all artificial handicaps such as race and nationality.

This belief is also becoming the standard of achievement for all Bermudians regardless of the nationality of their immediate ancestors.