"calming of the rhetoric'' in recent discussions over the role of expatriates is a good sign that the debate -- which is welcome -- will not deteriorate into a slanging match -- which would be disastrous.

Only the wilfully ignorant cannot recognise the importance of international business and expatriates to the Bermuda economy.

And only those who refuse to see what is in front of them would deny that a disproportionate amount of the wealth and success from which Bermuda has benefited has gone to whites -- both Bermudian and non-Bermudian.

That fact -- which is obvious from even the most cursory reading of Government and private statistics -- does not mean there are no poor whites, nor that the black middle and upper classes have not increased exponentially in the last 40 years.

The reality is that in spite of the enormous changes since 1945, Bermuda remains a society in which a disproportionate number of whites -- who are also likely to be male -- make up the managerial and senior professional classes and continue to dominate and own much of local business.

The issue which Bermuda needs to deal with is how to transform that statistic into one which shows that all races and both genders have equal opportunities to improve the quality of their lives.

This is essential to Bermuda's success. If any segment of society -- and that includes Bermudians as a whole -- believes that it is being cut off from opportunity, it would shatter the Island's stability.

Because Bermuda is a multi-racial society, it must take to heart the principle that we are all the same, regardless of our skin tones, and must be treated equally.

There are different approaches which can be taken to get Bermuda from here to there.

The CURE regulations tabled by Development and Opportunity Minister Terry Lister to have companies report on the racial make-up, respective positions and salaries of their staffs is one.

Tracking the progress of the "under-represented'' is a useful statistical tool. But it carries risks too. Any company -- or Government for that matter -- which ends up hiring and promoting purely on the basis of race in order to meet a rigid reflection of the Island's diversity will soon be in trouble if the inept are promoted and the overlooked depart.

Mr. Lister has not yet suggested that this will occur. But the fact that the statistics are to be collected will ensure that that spectre hangs over every business operator.

There are other ways of achieving the same worthy goal.

Improving social skills is important. Children coming from dysfunctional families are burdened with major disadvantages literally from the moment they can walk.

Education and training, in school and in the workplace, are key to giving everyone a fair chance.

Any business operator would be mad to ignore the fact that a diverse work force would help his or her bottom line. Failure to recognise that as a factor in staffing is a mistake. But that does not mean setting quotas; it means setting the same standards and giving equal opportunities to all.

Nor should anyone make the mistake of thinking that redistribution of wealth through taxation is the answer. That would result in the immediate flight of business -- whose function is, after all, the accumulation of wealth. That would mean that all Bermudians could be poor together, which is surely not the aim.