Cup Match, more than any other event, symbolises Bermuda.It is a time when people come together, and come home, to celebrate what it means to be Bermudian and to enjoy each other’s company. It is entirely fitting that the first day of Cup Match is officially Emancipation Day, because Cup Match was started by the lodges to mark the day when the horror of slavery ended. And that day should be remembered. Just as Remembrance Day is held “lest we forget”, so Emancipation Day must be remembered so that all people know just how inhumane one person can be to another.To be sure, Emancipation Day did not bring with it full freedom and the fact that it would take more than a century for all Bermudians to enjoy full political and human rights should not be forgotten either..Indeed, the struggle to ensure that all people enjoy equal rights and opportunities continues to this day and is an evolving debate.But Cup Match celebrates a watershed between a time when it was considered acceptable for one person to own another as a piece of property to the day when it was not. Bermuda faces different and steep challenges today. They include the continuing recession, which will inevitably temper some of this weekend’s celebrations.And they include crime which to some extent is linked to the recession and also has its roots in the alienation felt predominantly by some young black men. Few would deny that Bermuda’s continuing racial issues contribute to this, but it must also be accepted that the Mincy Report itself said that the best means of change is improved education.What makes Cup Match special is the way it brings people together. Past animosities and problems are put aside and people come together to celebrate what unites us, not what divides us. If Bermuda is to overcome the challenges it now faces, that same spirit is needed.In that context it is heartening to see the Joint Select Committee on Crime come forward with some bipartisan proposals that may well be workable, and it has also been very welcome to see how open-minded National Security Minister Wayne Perinchief has been to ideas, regardless of the source. There may be a fear that somehow a politician loses credibility when he does this, but the opposite is true; Mr Perinchief’s stature has improved.There have been other examples of people working together for the betterment of Bermuda. There is a risk that people will try to use this to their political advantage, and this works both ways. But there needs to be a recognition that the challenges facing Bermuda now, especially on crime and the economy, are so severe that partisanship needs to be put aside and the country needs to be put first.Bermuda has collectively worked its way through challenges before. Sacrifices have been needed and have been made. Many people are now facing hardship and making sacrifices. But if Bermuda is to survive and thrive again, it will require a collective effort.In the meantime, we wish all of our readers a safe and enjoyable Cup Match.