October 17, 2012Dear Sir,Once again, statistics are being used by a race campaigner to show that black Bermudians with the same educational levels as white Bermudians are less well remunerated. I have worked with both black and white university educated colleagues for nearly 30 years and their success and position within the company hierarchy is based more upon their ability, attitude and work ethic than the quality of their qualification, which was used to open the door into the business world, or the colour of their skin.Those who worked above and beyond their core requirements, improved their knowledge and gained meaningful experience valued by their employer were rewarded by position and salary.Race used to be a major obstacle to advancement and salary awards but it is no longer the overriding factor and by looking at many local and international business organisations the high number of successful black leaders is apparent. Those employees, black or white, that came in late, spent their time surfing the web and conducted private business on the phone, discussed the soaps, took long lunches and prepared to go home a half-hour before the end of the official work day were not encouraged to stay and advancement was out of the question, and so, their salary lagged their more successful colleagues, be they black or white.There are significantly more black faces in our dwindling number of workplaces than white ones so statistically there will be more blacks on lower pay bands than whites. In an economy that is struggling, only those that have the right attitude and work ethic will prosper. The 2010 census was not as well managed as in previous years based upon compliance in responding and as the data that was collected was done so two to three years into our own self-inflicted financial meltdown, salaries were dropping, especially for those that didn’t have the right attitude or believed that once they had their piece of paper confirming their ability to learn, that they just had to sit back and watch others around them perform while they climbed the corporate ladder as their rightful due as a Bermudian. Reality can suck when it sinks in.I guarantee there are still some unfair practices going on with promotions and salary awards and I am aware that it happens both ways today. However, before these race campaigners jump on the statistics bandwagon I’d ask that they consider a representative sample of those census respondents who consider themselves hard done by and consider the quality and appropriateness of the degree held and consider an employers review of the person’s ability to do the job, their work ethic and their value to the company before using race as the reason for all ills. Where there is injustice I will stand and fight with any man to correct it, where there is mediocrity I will provide assistance to strengthen but where race is used as the first and only excuse for failure I will walk away.LOOKING BEYOND RACEPembroke