The following is text from a presentation given by Lynne Winfield to the BRRI All-White Forum last Thursday.

I believe we are all here because we need to understand and learn more about what is happening with regard to race relations in Bermuda. I am here because I have been asked to share with you what I believe and have experienced. The following are my own thoughts and beliefs. We may have different opinions, but we need to recognise and respect the humanity of everyone in the room. No-one is a villain or a hero, no-one is right or wrong, as we all stand in our own truth.

None of us like change and I believe the backlash against the Race Relations Initiative from the predominantly white community is part of a basic human resistance to change. Social change creates fear and uncertainty about our place and role in society. In the context of racism it raises questions about "Where is this all going to lead? What is going to happen to us? What do 'they' want? What am I supposed to do? How can we fix it?" All of these questions are understandable and natural. However if we truly believe in human rights, social justice and equality for all… we need to participate in the process - or risk abdicating our opportunity and right to be a part of the solution.

I know how difficult it is to be in the room and part of the discussions on race. CURB meetings are open to all, as you cannot dialogue about race behind closed doors. Since 2006 we have been "in that room" talking, discussing, arguing, laughing and sometimes crying, but most importantly we have built relationships. And that is a critical key… because it is not about race relations but about relationships.

Last year I attended most of the race conversations and continue with the process this year. My experiences have been transforming. Over time trust has been built, and I have had the privilege of being mentored by black Bermudians, and have heard their stories of segregation, racism, pain, and hurt. I have also heard their thoughts, frustrations, worries, needs and hopes for the future.

During the conversations last year I often expressed my thoughts and understanding about racism. Afterwards black Bermudians would come up to me and say "Thank You". I felt overwhelmed and a fake. Why? Because I had only said what has been said a thousand times before by black people, the only difference was that I was white, and when I said this, they said, "You don't understand, this is the FIRST time I've heard a white person say anything like this!

Needless to say I didn't deserve their thanks.

My bio mentioned my time in the Under 40 Caucus. When the meetings first formed, they were packed with over 100 people at every meeting, with great diversity in the room. It was only 10 years after desegregation and there was so much hope amongst the young people. But then over the months we gradually lost our black members. We couldn't understand it…but then we never asked. We never truly discussed the reason for their leaving. I look back on it now and I finally understand. There were two reasons.

The first reason we failed, was that we worked from a social activism perspective, trying to do what we could to encourage Government to move faster on reforms. Where we failed was in not tackling head on the major issue…Racism.

The second reason was that slowly but surely the white people in the room asserted their authority…we felt (unconsciously and unintentionally) that we knew best, we had the contacts, the education, the understanding. And from our entrenched and unknowing white supremacy, we took control and as a result we lost the black members. As white people we lost the chance for any real relationships, and an opportunity for learning and healing.

I'm not an expert, my knowledge is still only partial and evolving. I need to understand and learn as much as I can about racism. I have found that my initial reading on race has turned to immersing myself in articles, social science theories, and books on race relations and racism. With everything I read I am horrified to discover just how much I don't know and how my education was narrow, and European-centric.

I have come to understand that this process is not about blame, shame or guilt for the past. It is about having empathy, and a moral, ethical and critical responsibility as an individual to change the social structure that continues to provide advantages to whites. I believe until we make these changes and work towards a level playing field for all, our collective humanity will continue to be negatively impacted.

We have a naïve tendency to believe that time will solve everything, but that is dangerous as it absolves us from doing something now. If our children do not see US, the adults, trying to change things, then they are less likely to do so themselves when it is their turn. By just waiting for time to be the healer, we are in fact leaving it up to our kids. And it is likely they will be no more successful than we were.

CURE statistics have provided quantifiable proof that inequality continues to exist between the races, so how can so many of us continue to claim that race is no longer relevant? I believe that it is racism itself that is maintaining the status quo. Thus our humanity has to be bound up in anti-racism work, or our humanity is compromised.

We are at an important moment in Bermuda's history. How will we as white people respond? What do WE need to do for the rest of 2008 and beyond?

• We can sit back, listen, ask, learn, respect, connect, calm down. Stop trying to take charge or control of the process and "fix it", and instead become allies to black Bermudians doing the work.

• We must come to understand and challenge our whiteness and the advantages we unknowingly gain from it.

• We must become colour conscious and not colour blind.

• We need to stand up to racial behaviour, racial jokes…for after all if you take out the joke all you have left is racism. In remaining silent we are racist by collusion.

• We need to be willing to engage in collective dialogue and collective action on a regular basis to eliminate racial inequality, racial stratification and its concomitant inequality.

• We need to establish relationships on both a community level and individual level with people of colour. This is where we need to do the work on the 'relationship' part of race relations.

• We need to stop being ostrich-like about the black reality and acknowledge and accept their experiences and their truth.

• We need to support the black community in their efforts to rediscover and honour their suppressed history.

• We need to get over our pessimism and negativism about the future of Bermuda and understand that if we truly want a more socially just and equitable Bermuda for all, we need to be a part of the process for racial understanding.

• We need to educate our school children from an early age about stereotypes and racism in an age-appropriate manner.

• As individuals we need to move away from claiming to be "non racist" to becoming "anti-racist." Being an anti-racist means understanding the institutional nature of racial matters and accepting that ALL people in a racialised society are attached through benefits or disadvantages to the racist structure.

• The above actions mean taking responsibility for our unwilling participation in a system of racial disadvantage, and it means committing ourselves to the goal of achieving REAL racial equality.

Bermuda has a lot to be proud of and we need to validate where we are today and the good things we have in our lives. However, we cannot afford to be self-centered and proud to think that we, as white people, can solve the problem of racism in isolation. In order to make the social changes that are needed, we have to be willing to step outside our comfort zones. I could have all the ideas in the world about how to fix it, but ideas don't change people…relationships change people. Until we face this essential truth, and do something about it, we will continue to mess things up.

I would like to leave you with something to think about…40 years ago society considered smoking to be fashionable and elegant, yet today we view someone who lights up in a public place as being a social pariah! This huge social change was achieved through legislation, massive media campaigns, government funding, huge pressure on the tobacco industry and lawsuits. But most importantly the environment was changed by grassroots people power. What if we had done the same with racism 40 years ago… where would we be today? If we had done this work would we still be in the place that when someone cracks a racial joke, at worst we laugh or at the least we stand mute? We must ask ourselves these questions. We may never be able to change a racist, but if we can learn to stand up to them, we can make them silent.