Government Senator Marc Bean called for a revolution of the educational system, saying he thought the existing system is “trash”.

While the system was put in place before the PLP took power, he admonished the party for not doing enough to change it.

“My government, from 1998 to today, has failed,” said the Senator. “I give my government a triple-F.

“It’s like we bought a house built on sand, and instead of fixing it, we’ve changed the curtains and we’ve changed the tiles.”

The statements came during a discussion on the Mincy report, a study released last year on the employment, earnings and educational gaps between young black males and their same-age peers.

During an impassioned speech, Senator Bean said the current education system was one of several maneouvres to maintain a divide between blacks and whites.

Senator Bean said: “Back in the day, there was a planned and concerted effort to marginalise black males.

“What we’re experiencing now is the same thing we experienced in 1969, 1970. This plot is bearing its fruit now.”

He said that while public schools had adopted ‘liberal’ teaching strategies, private schools had remained basically unchanged.

“I’ve heard about people sacrificing, working two jobs to get their children into private schools under the idea that it will get people more opportunities.

“And that might work because the private schools haven’t changed.

“We allowed our establishments, like The Berkeley Institute, to be diluted, to be destroyed. That’s our fault for taking it hook, line and sinker. No bait.”

The Senator also said that the divide in earnings between black men and women was damaging the family unit.

“The black women were making more money than the men, and that creates a bad vibe, especially back in the day.

“I don’t care if you become the premier or the President, women are the centre of the family unit.

“This generation, we have an individual mindset. We think, ‘I don’t need you, I don’t need a man,’ which leads to broken homes.”

The Junior Minister for Tourism and Transport also disputed the idea that education was the key to solving the problem.

Instead, he proposed that a greater focus on culture was needed to make a difference.

“We were marginalised long before the current educational system,” he said. “I think it’s trash, but it hasn’t caused the problems.

“The whole issue comes down to culture. Culture is power.”

He called for students to be taught African history, as well as European history, so that young black males can see their history as more than just slavery.

He said: “How do we expect our young black people to think they can achieve greatness when you only ever mention that they used to be slaves?”

“Tell me about the great leaders who can give me something to look up to.” By educating young people about our combined cultures, the Senator said people would be able to move beyond issues of gender and race.

”In order for Bermudians of all races to live together in piece and harmony, we must redouble our efforts to love ourselves. ”Only then will we be able to love our neighbour, and in Bermuda, your neighbour could be anybody.” Government Senator Thaoo Dill said he hoped the time had come to seriously discuss the issue, saying: “Hopefully we will look at this opportunity and not resort to the same old party politics.”

He said that just because some black people had become successful does not mean there is no longer a problem. ”People say Obama’s black, Oprah is a millionaire, Tiger Woods is the best golfer in the world. What’s your excuse? ”These exceptions are not a sign of proof. It’s like saying you should buy lottery tickets. ”The data shows that just being black makes it less likely that you’re successful. Not idleness, not ineptness, just being black.

”We need to have equal opportunity for everyone regardless of meaningless issues.”

Opposition Senator Jeanne Atherden meanwhile said that while she was glad the topic had come up for debate, she expressed concerns that little was actually being done to tackle the issue.

”This isn’t the first report on the young black man,” she said. “If you really want to reduce the problem, I would hope that we would see some implementation.

”People have been asked to do something, but no one has said that anything has happened.

”If these things are out there, we would like to hear about it.” She stressed the importance of education, saying that while there are a number of organisations there to help people past school age, more should be done to see that they are not needed.

”We don’t want to pay for something twice,” she said. “There are a lot of people trying to get back on track through a number of programmes, and the public are paying for it.'

Opposition Senator Joan Dillas Wright also stressed the importance of education, saying: “Education is the thing that will get people out of the places they don’t want to be.

”Don’t let anyone think that just because someone goes into the trades that they don’t need an education.

“Many who have gone into the trades have ended up in this place or in the House of Parliament.” She praised those who worked in mentoring programs, saying: “That has absolutely been a boon, and more of that needs to happen.”