Throughout 2008 the Bermuda Employers Council commissioned and developed a statistical-based study of employment trends in Bermuda, complete with analysis and comment; the first of its kind in Bermuda. The data and comment was shared widely with Government, the media and the general population, with widespread acceptance.

The thinking behind the process for us, and this remains, is that fact-based information is vital to enable Bermudians to understand what is going on in our economy and jobs environment. Perception and rhetoric are often easier to accept than hard arithmetic reality, but are far more damaging to our continued prosperity. To believe that our prosperity is enjoyed mostly by the few, as seems widely believed, is to deny the reality of the prosperity enjoyed by the vast majority of our citizens.

What threatens these overall gains, more than anything, is a fueling of divisiveness between Bermudians of both races based on unsupported perceptions that race is the major defining reason for this disparity in earnings between black and white Bermudians. Also, we would not be so naïve as to make a statement that discrimination plays no part in today's workplace but we do believe that any such discrimination is relatively minor, is reducing and needs to be tackled directly, without disparaging the vast majority of good and fair employers.

This picture is severely clouded in the way the employment statistics are presented. We have consistently maintained and articulated why it is obvious and inevitable that median earnings for whites, white guest workers and white long-term residents exceeds that of blacks. Government does not compare like to like in these areas or offer up any analysis and explanation of what the figures mean. The median figures do not help any reader to understand pay comparisons and as such, we would have to question why Government is not more forthcoming in attesting to this fact.

There is a legacy effect here also that cannot be denied. White Bermudians, and more relevantly and importantly white guest and permanent resident certificate holders have a historic advantage based on education, work experience and past privilege. This is a reality that cannot be escaped from or changed. If this historic legacy is allowed by Bermudians to define our future actions then our future is bleak. Our economy is driven by companies that have international scope and to continue to burden them with further bureaucracy and continued negativity in the media can only have one long-term outcome. They will find somewhere else more welcoming.

We must accept what is unchangeable and work towards a vision for Bermuda. This vision should embrace an enabling ethos and a practical encouragement for all willing and able Bermudians, so that they can be the best that they can be, achieve the best that their talents allow and rise as high in the work environment as is possible. The employer community does embrace and actively supports this ethos. There is more that could and should be done to assist Bermudians to be the best they can be and this extra effort needs to happen. Race is not the major barrier to realising this potential in today's world and recent research and analysis, conducted by researchers for the Government, supports this.

Racial factors are often put forward for political and visceral reasons but end up being damagingly divisive. The press appears to take an easy oversimplification of facts in what is a complex situation which leads to concluding that race is the major factor in all workplace pay differences. That is patently not so. If we look at Bermudians as a whole, and we at the BEC do just that, you can see that the difference in pay between black and white Bermudians is totally explained by history and current educational attainments and experience; and is rapidly moving towards parity and thus disappearing.

What remains a reality, an unavoidable reality, is that there are and will continue to be huge disparities between earnings of the higher echelons of guest workers and the average Bermudian. Bermudians are in the middle of an earnings sandwich. This is not wrong, it is just the reality that we should recognise and accept, not criticise. All of us Bermudians would like, and may aspire, to be in these upper brackets but not all have the skills and experience to succeed, or the drive to embark on the international experience odyssey that is necessary to achieve these heights. Those who have the tools and make the journey will get the jobs.

The racial earnings gap that has been the subject of so much recent press, social commentator and talk show comment has lacked a fact-based underpinning. We at the BEC will articulate this factual basis in the coming weeks. It is our fervent hope, for Bermuda and its citizens that we can help to enable all our people to understand the complex realities of our unique economic situation.

It will not be easy, it is easier to accept a few well placed inflammatory headlines, but we will continue to inform all Bermudians as to the realities of our 'economic miracle'. We believe that Bermudians are persuaded by facts, and we will supply them. We also believe that Bermudians are for Bermuda first and that racial differences, although important, are secondary. We believe that issues of national identity transcend racial issues for the majority of Bermudians. Upon this basis we will continue to present the pragmatic and fact-based perspective in support of employers in Bermuda.

The continued economic success of Bermuda, without which social progress is an impossible dream, seems to us to demand that we ditch the rhetoric and start talking about what is real. We remain ready for this dialogue.

l Martin Law is the executive director of the Bermuda Emplyers Council