“Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t

Ain’t nothin’ changed for, me ‘cept the year it is

I think I have to send you a reminder, here it is”

— Jay Z

There are many in Bermuda and indeed worldwide who attempt to say that there is no disparity between the races. That the only difference is pigmentation or hair texture. Biologically, this is true.

However, when it comes to local statistics, the numbers paint an entirely different story. In graph A, taken from the 2010 census we can see the number of academic qualifications of both blacks and whites. Some will say that the correlation of academic ratios very well may go hand in hand with the black-to-white population ratios in Bermuda. Let’s take a look at the numbers in higher education:

• In the college certificate level, there are more than 9,000 blacks and fewer than 5,000 whites

• In the associate’s degree column, we see 1,500 blacks with this degree while 750 whites have this same level of qualification

• In the bachelor’s degree column, there are 3,000 blacks while 4,500 whites have the same level of degree

• In the master’s degree column, we see and equal number of 1,500 blacks and 1,500 whites

• There are also an equal amount of blacks and whites with doctorate degrees

Apart from bachelor’s degrees, there are more qualified blacks than whites in Bermuda. What these graphs clearly show is that thousands of black Bermudians have gone on to attain postsecondary higher degrees of university education thus dispelling the notion that blacks are not academically qualified.

However, in graph B, we see that no matter what the number of academically or technically qualified blacks, there is a glowing and growing disparity in their economic compensation.

Prime examples:

• In 2004, the median income for whites was approximately $60,000, while the median income for blacks was $43,000. This showed a difference between the two groupings of $17,000.

• In 2014, the media income for whites was approximately $88,000, while the median income for blacks was at $48,000. This showed a difference between the two groupings of about $40,000, This simply shows that in ten years the approximate median income disparity between blacks and whites in Bermuda has more than doubled.

So some interesting questions are to be raised:

• Do more blacks need to get higher university qualifications in order to close this gap?

• Are more whites than blacks in high-paying international business positions?

• Are blacks receiving less pay for the same work?

Let me know your thoughts. Call or WhatsApp me on 441-599-0901 or e-mail carib_pro@yahoo.com.