THOSE generations of black Bermudians who lived in the teeth of racial segregation and who have now passed on would certainly feel a sense of outrage — as did those of us old enough to have bitter memories of those times and who recognise the legacy of Bermuda’s racially divided past — at calls to “get over” racism. We, as black people, are now being called upon by other blacks to set the past to one side and, further, are even being blamed in some quarters for the ongoing existence of racism in this community.I, for one, reject the recent inferences of Progressive Labour Party MP Renee Webb, who suggests her political party has some sort of built-in problem with race.

Those of us who know the history of the PLP, who know its origins, are aware the PLP never put up any barriers preventing whites from joining the party.

Rather, the racial history of this country clearly shows us — for this is a reality in many other areas of Bermudian life — that the white community stayed away from the PLP en masse and was quick to make those whites who dared cross the racial line pay a price for exercising their freedom of choice in what’s meant to be a free society.

Who can forget what happened to white Bermudian Alex Outerbridge when he publicly stated he had joined the PLP?

I get the impression Mr. Outerbridge does not particularly like being used as the poster boy for victims of the white Bermudian backlash that still existed into the 1970s. But what happened to him as a result of standing up and expressing his preference for the PLP is now a part of the history of race relations in this country.

I remember the event quite clearly and even attended the same PLP rally at which Mr. Outerbridge made his mind to join the party.

I was a young supporter of the PLP and had turned up at the Warwick meeting to cheer the party on. The ironic thing is Mr. Outerbridge had not attended with the intention of joining the PLP; like many white Bermudians at that time he was convinced the PLP was a racist organisation and he had started out speaking at the meeting arguing from that position.

He was not shouted down. Instead various PLP members debated him and challenged his assumptions about the party. As I recall a female supporter suggested he join the party if he did not believe it had enough white members.

Well, those of us who are old enough can remember what happened next.

Within 24-hours of becoming a card-carrying member of the PLP he was fired from his job and it was even said he was subjected to pressures from other members of his family. He was also ostracised within the greater white community.

Very few white people can withstand the sort of social pressure that many black people have been subjected to when they have lobbied for reform in this society.

Eventually Alex Outerbridge resigned from the PLP and although he later re-emerged briefly as a United Bermuda Party branch chairman, he never really put his entire energy or intelligence into the political process on a wholesale basis following his baptism by fire. This was almost certainly Bermuda’s loss.

So when Ms Webb calls on Bermudians to “Get over it”, perhaps she should be addressing this statement towards the white community. For it is the white community that has perpetuated the racial divide in Bermuda and as a result we black people can never forget the ongoing impact of race.

It’s true the PLP does not attract the number of white supporters that it should given Bermuda boasts a two-party political system. And, historically, the PLP has in fact represented the political expression of the black community’s will. But the door has never been closed to any whites who have chosen to join the party.

This community cannot accuse the PLP of being a party built around race while the United Bermuda Party, even though it attracts a measure of black support, continues to attract more than 90 per cent of white votes at General Elections.

Race certainly plays a part in Bermudian politics but the black community took a long time to reach the point where it now largely votes as a racial bloc. However, the white community has tended to vote along racial lines since the two-party political system was first introduced here in 1968.

Things changed when the PLP was first voted in as Bermuda’s Government in 1998. Things changed because the black community had grown weary of carrying the burden of improved race relations alone, with very little help from the white community.

The story of Bermudian race relations is like the story of two people in a troubled relationship: if one struggles to maintain that relationship while the other partner is largely indifferent, then the day will invariably come when the one who has been doing all of the work will give up and walk away.

Bermuda reached that point, politically and racially, when the PLP was first elected.

Now, I have repeatedly posed the following question in this column: What do I, as a black Bermudian, really have in common with my fellow white Bermudians? To date no one has dared advance a satisfactory answer.

I have not yet turned my back and walked away from the prospect of some kind of racial reconciliation. But time is running out.

The choice is yours, Bermuda. Will the hand that pushes open the door to Bermuda’s future be a black one? Or will there be two hands involved in the process — one black and one white?