Another attack on white Bermudians' voting patterns by Government MP Zane DeSilva was the catalyst last night for a race debate Deputy Premier Paula Cox said brought an unusual "calm and stillness" to the House of Assembly.

Politicians from both parties gave emotional speeches about the need to cut the racial rhetoric and focus on more important issues after Mr. DeSilva's outburst over the United Bermuda Party's victory at the Southampton West Central by-election.

Mr. DeSilva claimed Charlie Swan's win proved Premier Ewart Brown was right to say that if white Bermudians had voted in the US election in the same way they do at home they would have made John McCain president.

The backbencher's speech brought derision from Opposition MPs, who claimed PLP Ministers were trying to distance themselves from Mr. DeSilva as he spoke.

United Bermuda Party MP Patricia Gordon-Pamplin said Mr. DeSilva was insulting people's intelligence and pointed out that people in Constituency 31 had in fact been voting between a choice of three black men.

Politician after politician then stood up to share their thoughts on race and offer suggestions for the way forward in an atmosphere considerably less hostile than usual for such a topic, leaving Ms Cox to close the debate with the words: "There seems to have been a calm and a stillness that has ultimately come to this place."

The calmness did not last long, however, as seconds after her comments, Mr. DeSilva and Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin had to be separated by colleagues as their personal row rumbled on after the House session ended.

Speaking at the beginning of the Motion to Adjourn, Mr. DeSilva complained how people were still talking about Dr. Brown's speech on white Bermudians from mid-November, which has prompted anger across the Island.

Mr. DeSilva said it was the UBP and The Royal Gazette who were splitting Bermuda, asking: "If we are trying to divide the country, why did we start the Big Conversation?"

Former Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons replied: "Because otherwise Rolfe (Commissiong) would be out of a job."

Mr. DeSilva continued: "It was to unite people of all races. If we wanted to divide the country, if the Premier was a divisionist, a racist, he could say: 'Go on white folks. Go to another part of the country to live.'"

Moving on to Thursday's election, he said: "The people spoke. The white people spoke. That's who spoke."

As Opposition MPs shouted at him to stop insulting their relatives, Mr. DeSilva continued: "The election confirmed what the Premier said two weeks ago, that if white people in Bermuda voted in the US the way that they voted in Bermuda, President Barack Obama would not be there.

"Was it evident last night how true that statement is."

He added that he believed losing Progressive Labour Party candidate Mr. Bean is Bermuda's Barack Obama having watched him speak while canvassing homes.

Dismissing Mr. DeSilva's race assertions, Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin said: "Members of the other side were admonishing me to sit down and say nothing because I believe they did not wish to be associated with those comments.

"I find it very difficult to sit quietly when such inane comments are coming from the mouth of someone in what is supposed to be a hallowed chamber.

"Each one of the candidates who ran in that constituency were what Marc Bean would have called African Bermudian: three black candidates.

"This honourable member stands here today and says that white people, if they voted in the US, that Barack Obama would not hold the position that he holds, that white people would not have voted for black people.

"Black people will vote for whites, white people will vote for blacks. People will support those candidates that they believe to be the best."

Mr. DeSilva interrupted: "If Barack Obama had run in Paget, would he be in position today?"

Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin pointed out she was a black candidate who indeed ran successfully in Paget.

She went on: "His disgusting comments are an absolute affront to democracy. That's the type of attitude that as we move forward together ... those types of comments are best left where they are, outside the chamber."

Opposition MP Wayne Furbert then spoke to say what he thought Mr. DeSilva meant, explaining that there are voting patterns in Bermuda, with predominantly white areas voting UBP and predominantly black areas voting PLP.

Mr. Furbert said that following his own controversial comments about the UBP somebody stopped him in the street and said he should be shot.

"I was rattled. I wasn't sure if I should call bodyguards or somebody," he said.

His party colleague John Barritt later said that person was probably upset that Mr. Furbert had derided Mr. Swan's credentials ahead of the by-election.

Former PLP Premier Dame Jennifer Smith marked a turning point in the tone of the evening by saying, to applause from the room: "My voters, like my constituents, are black and white and brown and all the others in between. They voted for their best representative."

Culture Minister Dale Butler said: "We ask for support of every single constituent, regardless of race."

Mr. Butler said he had heard "absolutely none of the racial rhetoric" canvassing in 1998, 2003 and 2007, adding: "The next steps will mean less division, more work, more respect, more caring, more understanding."

Regarding the behaviour of MPs, he said: "Unfortunately, on a regular basis, the friendship that we share in the common room disappears when we get to this part of the day."

He said Motion to Adjourn should be an opportunity to raise issues like tackling crime.

Government backbencher Randy Horton said MPs had a duty to act with integrity but that wasn't always the case. He made an impassioned plea for "all of us who sit on the floor of this House to raise our standards".

"We have a diverse country and we have a diverse House of Assembly," he said. "We must ensure that we represent all of the diversity that's in our country."

He said he felt blessed to take part in the evening's debate because "this has been one of the better days".

Government backbencher Ashfield DeVent said of racial voting patterns in Bermuda: "I'm not here to second guess why people vote the way they do vote."

He spoke about the racism suffered by black Bermudian football players in the UK in the past and said they were able to handle it because of where they came from.

"By and large, we are good people," he said of Bermudians. "We have our differences but by and large, we don't shoot and kill each other. We make it work."

He said the Island's youth was going to make unity between the races happen. "It's our job now to get on their page," he told MPs, adding that black and white Bermudian students in the US who had never got involved in politics on the Island worked on Mr. Obama's campaign. "Might that be a reflection on us?"

Opposition MP Mr. Barritt said Mr. DeSilva's approach was making it difficult for people to move forward together.

Government Whip Lovitta Foggo said she believed she was elected because her constituents thought she could work well on the issues.

Education Minister Elvin James said there were pockets of prejudiced people in Bermuda, among both blacks and whites.

But Mr. James said he had to rely on support from blacks and whites to win his seat in Warwick North Central.

Opposition Leader Kim Swan said Mr. DeSilva, in trying to defend the Premier's comments about Mr. Obama, was defending a "difficult and indefensible position".

His voice rising, he said Mr. DeSilva had called into question the men and women of Constituency 31. At that point Speaker Stanley Lowe cautioned him: "The debate has been elevated. Let's see if we can keep it elevated."

Mr. Swan said he was proud that the by-election was fought on issues by all candidates. He said Bermudians of all colours shared a common bond.

But he added: "You know why everybody is talking about Obama? Because they are asking us 'when are you going to step out of your comfort box and take on what Obama has started?'"

He said politicians needed to be able to look those constituents in the face who had voted for them but "don't look like them" and truly represent them.

Shadow Labour Minister Shawn Crockwell told how he came into politics because he wanted his bi-racial six-year-old daughter not to be judged later in life by "her blackness or her whiteness". He said his grandmother had mixed heritage and refused to tick any box that didn't say "other" on official forms which asked her race. "Why should she have to choose?" he asked.

Works and Engineering Minister Derrick Burgess spoke of his white grandmother and what she endured in the early 1900s because she married a black man.

He said whites had historically been ostracised for supporting the PLP and claimed The Royal Gazette was to blame for much of society's racial divide. "I appeal to them to lead the way, take more responsibility to get the races in Bermuda together."

Ms Cox ended the debate by suggesting that Charlie Swan could never have expected his election to be a "lightning rod for a thorough discussion of race".

She said: "He can write in his diary that it was momentous, if only for that." The Finance Minister said the debate had been dramatic in parts and a number of different perspectives were represented.

"Race is the 800 lb gorilla that sits in the room," she said. "Anybody who seeks to deny that is either in cloud cuckoo land or is naive."

She said "notwithstanding the complexion" of members of the Government benches, they were working on programmes and policies for the common good.

"Times are changing," she said. "I think it's important that we practise what we preach as we consider and reflect even on the discussions that have taken place today."