acrimonious, there is something taking place which we think the public should reflect on. There is a tendency on the part of some people to claim that black Bermudians are today left out of political power. That is an easy statement to make and one which will stir some emotion, but the reality may be something else. There certainly was a time not too long ago when that was true but we hope that claiming it as a truth today is not just another attempt to beat Bermuda with its past history.

It may be that what these people really mean is that the PLP has never come to power. For black Bermudians to imply that blacks have no political power seems to us to decry all those blacks and all those black voters who have held power under the increasingly black United Bermuda Party. Some of this accusation has been fostered by members of the United Bermuda Party itself who, in an apparent attempt to attract black voters to themselves, have taken to accusing their white friends of racism. The UBP accuses the PLP of using racism to divide Bermuda but it has not been free of the same tactic.

As for black political power, it certainly never seemed to anyone except perhaps some in the PLP that Sir John Swan lacked political power for some 13 years as Premier of this Country. And there can be no suggestion that Premier Pamela Gordon, with her philosophy and her policies designed to benefit all the people, lacks political power.

The truth is that the United Bermuda Party government is largely black even if some people prefer to think of anyone in the UBP as some kind of anti-Bermudian alien. The fact is that there is hardly a white establishment face to be seen in politics today, yet people dwell on the past and imply that whites still dominate Bermuda's politics. Many whites have their say but their actual political clout is minimal compared to 20 years ago.

There have been accusations that UBP people dominate Government Boards. With a few exceptions they do but the truth is that the PLP has refused to serve on boards for fear they might help the UBP, preferring instead to deprive Bermuda.

The suggestion that blacks have no power also denigrates a large number of highly successful black Bermudians who have been at the top of the Country outside politics. True, it took a long time for black Bermudians to get there just as it took a long time for blacks in the United States and other countries to get there but in recent years we have had black Cabinet Secretaries, Chief Justices, Senate Presidents, Police Commissioners, Senior Magistrates, church leaders, and any number of heads of Government departments ranging from education, to health, to transportation.

It is fair to say that there are a number of major institutions in Bermuda, notably the two major banks, still controlled by white Bermudians and that much of the source of Bermuda's wealth has historically been in white hands and remains in white hands. But that will still be a factor if the PLP comes to power and one which the PLP will have to accommodate and which it may not find easy to deal with because in Bermuda like any other country it will not just up and disappear overnight. Conservative and cautious institutions do not change quickly. Bermuda will be the same place with the same problems and the same people the day after the next election no matter which party wins.

We can only hope it will not be divided against itself for the sake of votes.