Heartfelt apologies from some white MPs and refusals to do so from others were a feature of the lengthy race debate as it moved into the evening in the House of Assembly on Friday.

The Royal Gazette reported on Saturday how the House passed a motion asking for forgiveness for the role it has played in race division after seven hours of speeches.

The motion — put forward by independent MP Wayne Furbert — called for the House to recognise the impact race has on all facets of life on the Island. In recognition of Bermuda's 400th anniversary, it stated: "We affirm our wholehearted commitment to the cause of reconciliation between all races; and that we ask for forgiveness for the role that this House has played in race division."

Walter Roban, Junior Minister for Labour, Home Affairs and Housing, said although Bermuda's racially mixed history has led to a vibrant culture: "There's still that racial prism that is a part of the Bermuda political experience and certainly the economic experience."

Shadow Minister of Education Grant Gibbons said he was proud to be a member of the United Bermuda Party, because it was founded on the principle that black and white Bermudians would be able to work together in equal partnership. He said he felt the party had done a lot to move "these very difficult issues forward".

He admitted: "That's not to say that they did not make mistakes or that they were successful in all they did."

Dr. Gibbons said he acknowledges and regrets great injustices that others have created, and has spoken about them in the House in the past.

But he told the House it would be presumptuous of him to ask for forgiveness "for something someone else has done in the past".

He said he'd tried to help constructively when he was Leader of the Opposition, setting up a Shadow Ministry of Race Relations and Economic Opportunity under David Dodwell. However, he urged that more must be done most importantly to reform education and create new opportunities.

Junior Minister of Justice Michael Scott responded to Dr. Gibbons' observation that he has difficulty apologising for something he didn't do. Mr. Scott said he still says "I'm sorry" to victims of crime that he meets, even though he did not commit the crime.

"It's called empathy," he said. "People in this House can offer an empathetic apology for things that happened in the past."

Opposition whip and Minister of the Environment Cole Simons said the hard times in the past were what gave people the strength to carry forward.

Mr. Simons said he supported the notions of apology and reconciliation and acknowledged: "We have a history that I'm not too proud of."

However, he continued: "I've travelled quite a bit and I've never heard people talk so much (about race) in my travels than I have in this country. There's always an agenda in our country. We always talk about race but what are we doing in our own little universe to make a difference?"

He urged: "Let's, in 2009, commit to making ourselves really sincere. Let's get away from the politics of race and judge our political parties on merit and what has been delivered. That's when we'll take ourselves to the next level."

He also listed prominent members of the black and Portuguese community who have done much to make things better.

Deputy Speaker Dame Jennifer Smith responded by saying: "I wonder what we're supposed to be talking about today. I know exactly what the motion says, but it seems as if some members are determined to minimise the lingering effects of slavery."

No one talking to a Jewish person, she suggested, would seek to minimise the Holocaust and tell the person to look at where they are now because of something horrible that happened to them.

She noted that she and Premier Dr. Ewart Brown had lived through the times of segregation, while other members of the House were too young to have experienced it and could tell other people how they should feel about it.

"Other members who did not live during that time cannot minimise the experience of someone who lived through it," she said. "Mr. (Michael) Scott was right, I don't have to have committed the crime to feel sympathy for them."

Dame Jennifer praised Wayne Furbert for bringing the motion. However, she complained: "Nobody has discussed the impact. All I've heard about is those who have overcome but some of those have not overcome."

She agreed that members of the House should apologise for the wrongs of the past. And she added: "This is not part of the motion but let us vow that nothing like that will happen again in future. Put in clear rules and policies and procedures so that the rights of people in this country will never be hampered by this Parliament."

PLP backbencher and former senior Police officer Wayne Perinchief praised her for her contribution, saying: "I'm glad Dame Jennifer rose to her feet and injected a little spice into this debate."

Mr. Perinchief said being a Policeman as long ago as 1964, he could remember "repressive" legislation such as the Summary Offences Act which stopped groups of more than three people gathering and putting people in fear.

"Not only were we made to suffer under these acts but, with great irony, to carry out these repressive laws," he recalled.

During the 1965 Belco riots, Mr. Perinchief said: "I saw the Police force breaking up what I would now, with reflection, call lawful acts, simply marching and trying to get representation. The legislative powers of the day were used to break up groups of workers."

Referring to Mr. Simons' list of black achievers, PLP backbencher Zane DeSilva said that for every successful black man cited, there were hundred and maybe thousands who did not succeed.

"As a white-skinned person sitting in this House I will say this: 'I'm very sorry and I'm very regretful, 'you're darn right I am' as they said in the old South. Why? Because if you look at the motion put forward today, we talk about the impact and we talk about reconciliation and we have talked about forgiveness.

"Well, I will say here that I will spend the rest of my life trying to right the wrongs and the injustices of the past and I will always be sorry and regretful for the wrongs that happened to the black people, here and all over the world."

Continuing the theme of heartfelt apologies, Shadow Attorney General and Minister of Justice Mark Pettingill said: "This topic is a life study for me and it continues to be a life study. I have made errors in judgement when it comes to this issue of race in this country. I have said things publically that I regret. They were said in insensitivity to the issue of race and I have a list of lessons that I've learned from those insensitivities."

Mr. Pettingill said he was grateful to friends who've given him lessons in this respect. He said that as someone not from a monied background, who was raised in a black neighbourhood with a lot of black friends, he fell into the category of someone who felt he had a feeling for the issue.

"It was easy to fall into the trap of saying 'let's all hold hands and sing Kumbaya and get over it'," he explained.

However, he said white people have to acknowledge that a "palpable pain" still exists. And, he continued: "I state as a solemn vow that I am prepared to do whatever personally it takes to bring about the reconciliation but a large part of that, I would urge upon other people, is to listen with bended ear, to not just what people put forward with regard to the historical facts, but the way that they feel about them, and the way that the history has impacted them. Because if that's their truth then we cannot stand here and say to anyone 'you're wrong' or 'get on with it' or 'get over it' or 'look at the opportunity you have now.' We can't say that with an honest heart if we dismiss how they feel about it."

Mr. Pettingill said he still walks past people in the streets who ran segregated venues "but we're not going to hear an apology from them, perhaps, Mr. Speaker, because of shame. I hope so".

Shadow Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs Darius Tucker said he and Mr. DeSilva had set up a cross-party forum to get members of the House to discuss the issue, although it wasn't very well attended. He said that honest talking was needed.

However, he added: "I don't believe that the innocent should suffer for the guilty. If I'm guilty of something I should say sorry, but I've not done anything wrong and I don't see why I should have to apologise."

However, he called on families who've benefited from the injustices of the past to "make some sort of compensation" to the people of Bermuda who suffered.

"If you benefited from wrongdoing then you should find it in your heart to do something to recognise it, that's without a doubt."

His party colleague Donte Hunt said of the notion of an apology from whites: "If that's the condition for forgiveness, then we won't move on."

He continued: "My proposal is that forgiveness is extended regardless, because we need to protect the next generation from this kind of hate being perpetuated." He said he was asking in a "bold statement" that "we blacks can be strong enough to forgive regardless of whether the perpetrators apologise or not for the sake of the next generation".