A recent banner headline in The Royal Gazette read: "UBP Call Workforce Equity Bill An Election Ploy". The report beneath the headline amounted to the United Bermuda Party's response to former Cabinet Minister Patrice Minors call for the Opposition to make its position clear on the contents of the workforce bill. And that response made it abundantly clear to me why the UBP will never enjoy my political support. It just threw my mind back to when the UBP was the Government of Bermuda and we were subjected to a neverending series of debates on so-called Bermudianisation. And no action whatsoever when it came to this subject.

Frankly, I have never accepted that there should be any kind of debate on my legitimate national aspirations and rights in own my country.

The question has been asked why there is a need for a workforce equity bill and the answer is simply this: There is never going to be a time when we are going to be prepared to allow the "B" to be taken out of Bermuda.

There are those, of course, who are prepared to see the creation of a Bermudian economy where indeed the "B" is taken out of Bermuda.

But such people are deluding themselves if they think such a state of affairs is going to come into existence without some type of reaction. Every action, remember, has an equal and opposite reaction - whether you're talking about physics or the socio-economic field. If we insist that we are going down this road of fast-tracking foreign commercial interests that happen to be based here without also looking after the economic interests of our own people, then we are not looking at a future stable country.

Why is a workforce equity bill being put into plac by the Progressive Labour Party Government at this particular time? The answer to that question is also very simple - because those who have traditionally controlled Bermuda's economy even today cannot be trusted to bring justice to the workpace in terms of Bermudians' employment rights in their own country.

I am 59-years-old and, for as long as I can remember, Bermudians have been told: You are not qualified enough; you do not have enough experience; you are not ready to participate in certain areas of Bermuda's economy.

One of the most absurd written opinions that I have read is an admonition along these lines (which focussed in particular on the realm of International Business) that argued if Bermudians want to achieve even entry-level employment in the off-shore financial services sector - let alone set about climbing the corporate ladder - then they would be better off gaining experience outside of the country.

How insulting! How absurd! For if Bermuda is the leading off-shore jurisdiction when it comes to the insurance and reinsurance business, then why must our people seek initial, entry-level employment in this industry outside of our country?

This is yet one more barrier; one more hoop in which Bermudians are required to jump through, before they are going to be allowed to enjoy the benefits of this thriving sector of Bermuda's economy.

Of course, this situation has disproportionately impacted on black Bermudians. This is really all about the legacy of Bermuda's racial past. How is it that some studies have found that a white person with only a high school degree has gone further than a black person who has a higher educational qualification?

Such statistics would suggest that Bermuda has yet to move beyond its racially divided past and to, make matters worse, it is now a non-Bermudians who predominantly hold the employment prospects of Bermudians in their hands given the runaway growth in the largely foreign-owned and -operated financial services sector.

How many countries in this world can you name where such a state of affairs is allowed to exist to the detriment of the citizens of those countries?

Any Government that acquiesced in creating or maintaining such a situation would face an immediate electoral revolt against such policies. In fact, the people might even take to the streets to express their outrage.

The UBP, no matter what it now says about creating a inclusive Bermuda, has consistently ignored the social and economic impact of racism in Bermuda on the black Bermudian, especially where it pertains to the workplace and the legitimate aspirations of the people of colour in this country.

One cannot ignore the fact that various studies have continually shown that, on the whole, the white community is better off economically than the black community. Is it because they have worked harder than the black community when it comes to educational opportunities? Every black person knows the answer to this question. All they have to do is to reflect on their own life's experience.

Nor is it good enough, as some would have us believe, to say that the workforce equality bill is unnecessary and to voice such opinions based on their own personal experiences in the corporate world.

There are, of course, going to be welcome exceptions to every rule. But the genuine state of race relations cannot be judged on your own personal relationship with a person of another race (no matter how close such a relationship may be). And precisely the same thing pertains to employment rights for black Bermudians in this country. Any judgment must be based on the whole experience and not on the narrow experience of the individual.

Anyone who is in doubt as to how the black community as a whole feels about the Workforce Equity Act did not hear the loud clapping that came from a predominantly black audience at a recent PLP conference when Premier Dr. Ewart Brown announced that the legislation is going to be adopted as official PLP Government policy.

I am sure many Bermudians feel the way I do about this issue. It may be a reality that to own your own home, a piece of The Rock, is slipping out of the grasp of Bermudians as a whole. But we have not given up when it comes to the futures of our children and grandchildren. That is why we continue to invest millions of dollars in the further education of our children once they pass out of Bermuda's educational system. We are not doing this so that, when they return to their country, they can find employment prospects - employment propsects that will not be blocked as a result of the legacy of Bermuda's racial past.

Far from being a so-called election ploy, the Workforce Equity Bill is a move on the part of a responsible Government which - as was the case with the policy that ended the long-term residency issue - is taking long overdue action to level the employment field which for so long has been held hostage to the dictates and consequences of Bermuda's racial past.