public debates on issues surrounding race.

While veterans of past debates on race will no doubt feel a sense of deja vu about this new call, no one will disagree that talking about racial issues and the experiences of all segments of the community is essential if the Island is ever to bridge the racial divide.

Only by sharing views and experiences can racism be overcome as whites and blacks in Bermuda gain a better sense of who they are and where they come from.

In spite of past efforts to talk about race, there are still times -- such as the recent forums on long-term residents' rights -- when one side or another is shocked by the strong feelings of another.

In some ways, the recent forums were less about long-term residents and more about white expatriates in general and the fears and insecurities they engender in parts of the black community.

As Bermuda embarks once again on this debate, it should be remembered that race plays a role in almost every issue in Bermuda and that racism is about the exercise of power by one group of people over another.

But Bermuda also has to decide what it means to end racism. Does it mean equal rights and respect for different races, or does it mean that Bermuda will reach a point when skin colour has no meaning.

Dealing with racism today is a different and in some ways more challenging subject than it was during the great civil rights and desegregation efforts of the 1950s and 1960s.

Nothing illustrates that fact more than the fact that there is, rightly, a ban on advertising for staff of a particular race, part of efforts to prevent discrimination which no one could disagree with. Yet, because of justified concerns over institutional racism, employees are classified by race within the workplace to ensure that they are diverse.

Talking about race and debating these issues is the only way forward.

Assigning blame and using blanket stereotypes to either race is the quickest way to kill any chance of bridging the divide.

Let's keep talking.

SCOOTER FAD EDT Scooter fad There has been a fair amount of talk recently about the scooter fad now sweeping Bermuda.

It is difficult to understand how there can be any uncertainty about the importation of scooters equipped with engines. Any vehicle equipped with an engine requires a licence if it is ridden on public roads.

The Transport Ministry should refuse to issue licences for them, because they are patently unsafe and anyone caught riding them on the roads should receive a ticket and have the scooter seized.