Opinion by Maynard Dill, Chairman, Progressive Labour PartyKnowing their thoughts, he said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.”- Matthew 12:25These words, uttered by Jesus over 2,000 years ago, could just as easily have been delivered today to the people of this deeply divided Island.Since the One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) stormed to victory on December 17, 2012, the blogosphere and The Royal Gazette’s Letters to the Editor section have been transformed into a theatre of the obscene, where naked racial prejudice has taken centre stage.Commentaries have been as outrageous as they have been shocking. For example, in a March 14 Letter to the Editor, one anonymous blogger stated that Black Bermudians should celebrate their good fortune for having been spared the indignity of living free in Africa by the serendipitous blessing of slavery.Coupled with the equally irresponsible, offensive and unfounded remarks made by OBA Deputy Chairman, Michael Branco, who claimed that the Term Limit Policy was instituted by the Progressive Labour Party “to pander to the xenophobic views of those Bermudians who would like Bermuda to be foreigner-free”, a rather unflattering picture begins to emerge of a newly-minted government and its supporters gleefully employing divisive, racist, coded language to malign the PLP and its Black Bermudian support base.While we do not begrudge the people of Bermuda their right to register their discontent in as forceful a manner as they deem necessary, the general tenor of the statements made by pro-OBA online contributors is, nonetheless, profoundly disturbing.What is clear to us is that the rise of the OBA has emboldened a sector of our community, who have taken full advantage of the cover of anonymity to launch numerous, unprovoked attacks upon Black Bermudians.That, in our estimation, is not only cowardly, but wholly unacceptable.Over the last five decades, the historical record has been littered with examples of the violent, societal breakdown that often follows when simmering racial tensions are left unaddressed.We do not need to revisit those explosive periods in our journey as a nation. A gilt-edged opportunity to quash the growing threat of interracial discord is upon us. All that is needed is the political will to seize the time and the moral clarity to do what is right and just.Clearly, Bermuda is in desperate need of visionary leadership — a leadership that is unafraid to confront racism head-on; a leadership that is committed to doing away with the ugly race-baiting and bigotry that often masquerade as meaningful political debate; a leadership that understands that attempting to sidestep this thorny issue would be disastrous, in both the short and long-term; a leadership that is willing to do whatever it takes to bring the races together under the banner of unity and shared destiny.Let us speak plainly: we cannot hope to confront tomorrow’s challenges if the present Government maintains its deafening silence in the snarling face of the hate speech that has become an odious go-to strategy on the part of some of its supporters. A principled response is expected from the OBA, especially in light of the populist, inclusive rhetoric that was a mainstay of its election campaign.Meaningful action must be taken to counter what has, unfortunately, been embraced as ‘best practice’ among too many of the OBA faithful. In other words, something must be done. And if Premier Cannonier and his team choose to act decisively on this contentious matter, they will prove to the people of Bermuda that they actually meant what they said; that their grand protestations were more than mere crass electioneering; and that they want the best for all Bermudians, regardless of race or party affiliation.We can only hope that the OBA decides to demonstrate the requisite intestinal fortitude and rein in the racially inflammatory mudslinging that has become a disturbing feature of contemporary political discourse.They can — indeed, they must — do better, if we are to move forward and together forge the Bermuda of our greatest imaginings.