It’s no coincidence that both Premier Paula Cox and Opposition Leader Craig Cannonier referred to the past as in, let’s not go back there in their opening salvos of the election campaign.Ms Cox said: “You have a choice in this election. Let’s move forward together and let’s not go backwards and let’s not turn back the clock.”Mr Cannonier said: “The country faces two different visions. One that wants to continue with the divisive politics of the past, and the OBA which wants to move this country forward in a prosperous manner.”Ms Cox’s past refers to pre-1998, when the United Bermuda Party dominated local politics for 30 years.In the Progressive Labour Party’s version of history, the UBP was the Establishment party which admittedly oversaw a successful economy, but one in which the fruits of that success were unevenly shared.In the One Bermuda Alliance’s version of history, the UBP and the PLP were locked in a deadly embrace based around racial division; one in which each needed the other to justify its own use of race-based politics.That’s one of the reasons why the PLP continues to reiterate its claim that the OBA is simply the UBP in new clothes. If the OBA is really something different an Obama-like post-racial organisation then those appeals no longer have the same effect.But the OBA needs to show that it is different from the UBP. It made a start in last November’s Throne Speech when Mr Cannonier spoke eloquently about race, but it requires a vision of a genuine post-racial Bermuda to have real effect.That’s because no one can honestly dispute that, despite tremendous progress, Bermuda continues to suffer from racial divisions and the legacy of segregation.Whites, Bermudian and non-Bermudian, continued to earn more than blacks, Bermudian and non-Bermudian, even when they have the same broad academic qualifications.Bermuda’s schools remain segregated, albeit as much by class as by race now, compared to when genuine, legalised segregation existed 40 years ago.It is important to recognise that the reasons for these differences are more complex than unadulterated racism. But they remain stark, and race remains the main social divider compared to other demographic factors like age or gender, although these matter too.So both parties need to show that they have a plan to solve this problem.One reason why the PLP is bent on hearkening back to the spirit of 1998 is because of the lack of progress it has made in this area in the last 14 years.Although it can point to initiatives like the Economic Empowerment Zones (supported by both parties), the overall lack of progress is disappointing.And education, which is the single best means of bridging the gap, is one of the areas of greatest PLP failure. Admittedly it inherited a just restructured system, but it failed to get a grip on it through numerous Ministers and countless tweaks and broken promises.Then there’s the recession. However imperfectly, a growing economy is the best way of lifting people up and the fact the economy has been in recession for at least three years has been a disaster for racial equality.While cynics may say that the recession is doing a good job of narrowing the wealth gap between whites and blacks, since all are getting poor together, the statistics show that the black Bermudian population, poorer to begin with, has also been the hardest hit. That is the way with recessions. It’s those who were already struggling who will suffer most.And so, while race will undoubtedly play a part in this election campaign, it’s party with the best economic plan, bringing with it the best prospects for good jobs for all, that should win on December 17.