Premier Ewart Brown on Friday night dismissed claims he is polarising Bermuda and insisted his Big Conversation project would help solve race problems on the Island.

Speaking at the latest Bermuda Race Relations Initiative meeting — this time with the theme The Colour Of Money — the Premier denied recent allegations that his methods are dividing blacks and whites. “I have been called, even in recent days, a divisive figure,” Dr. Brown told more than 100 people at Berkeley Institute.

“I was born into a divided society. I found it that way and I’m determined not to leave it that way.

“At the risk of being called divisive, or polarising, or all the other silly terms I’ve been called, we will press forward on this because the last thing I want to be called is someone who did nothing.”

He claimed that with an election in the pipeline it had been a risk to launch the Big Conversation, in which blacks and whites have been encouraged to talk about race in a series of get-togethers.

But he likened dealing with race difficulties to fighting disease in his previous career as a physician — in which wounds should be dealt with and not ignored. “You open it and you drain it, then the wound can heal,” he explained. “If you do not face it, you cannot fix it.”

American business expert Marvin Williams said Bermuda was the richest black majority country on earth, but it needed to be turned from a good country into a great one.

He spoke about the need to improve education by letting non-teachers assist in the classroom, while young people should be encouraged to get involved as hotel and housing developments take place across the Island.

“A child in Bermuda, with so little land available, should be an expert in development and design,” said Mr. Williams.

He said this would equip youngsters with the skills to get jobs in other places such as the Caribbean. A panel discussion followed, featuring Association of Bermuda International Companies chairman David Ezekiel, developer Nelson Hunt and Carlton Simmons, of Youth On The Move.

More events are planned under the Bermuda Race Relations Initiative in the coming months, including race’s role in education and the law.