the Bermuda Day weekend, the general manager of the Elbow Beach Hotel should resign over alleged racial slurs.

The May 24 Marathon Derby and the Bermuda Day Parade are often seen as fine reflections of the diversity of the community we live in and, when much of the rest of the world is suffering from terrible and bloody divisions, a symbol of the tolerance and mutual respect which makes Bermuda special.

It is also common to believe that Bermuda is special for another reason -- while we all have differences, far more unites us than divides us.

For the most part, that is still the case. Sadly, what episodes like the "Elbow affair'' remind us of is how divided we still are.

Most blacks and some whites fully understand why general manager Bill Shoaf's alleged remark about "frying chicken on the front steps'' was so derogatory -- it reinforced stereotypes about blacks and suggested that they have no manners and no sense of what is right.

Yet many whites, and possibly some blacks in Bermuda, are utterly bemused about what the fuss is about, questioning how one phrase could be derogatory, when, for example, Englishmen cooking Yorkshire Pudding on the front steps would be acceptable, or even funny.

The answer has a lot to do with the fact that Englishmen, at least in Bermuda, have not been oppressed, stigmatised and discriminated against for most of the Island's history, mainly on the basis of their colour and culture. That is something all Bermudians need to understand and remember. That fact should not be used as an excuse or as a political weapon -- but it should be recognised and respected.

Yet there are risks that political correctness can be taken too far.

It would seem that this episode could and should have been settled long before it reached the Human Rights Commission; the fact that it was not raises a great many hard questions to which no-one seems to have the answers: Elbow Beach should have been able to manage this problem on its own. Why was this not possible? Why was the Human Rights Commission able to continue to investigate the complaint if it is true that it conceded as long ago as December that no breach of the Human Rights Act had occurred? What did Home Affairs Minister Paula Cox know about the affair and to what extent did it affect her decision to first deny Mr. Shoaf a work permit and later to grant him a permit for a provisional six month period? How much damage has this affair done to Bermuda's international reputation as a good place to invest? Why is it that serious allegations about racial slurs can be taken seriously, but serious allegations about death threats and offensive graffiti are seemingly accepted? What does it say about Bermuda when some members of the community see this as a crusade and others see it as a crucifixion?