Travelling in an elevator and being greeted by the friendly and beautiful eyes of a little Chinese baby in a stroller smiling at me with his happy parents, then sitting at the top of an atrium looking down on the diverse shoppers in the food court where women were wearing hijabs in one spot and micro miniskirts in another — an array of cultures and nationalities all jostled together — reminded me of the song What A Wonderful World, made popular by the great “Satchmo”, Louie Armstrong.

Then I asked myself while sitting there watching, “Why would anyone want to live in a Black and White world? There is so much more potential, beauty and choice in a diverse world.

Bermuda, we are way out of step with the world. If during 1959 and the early 1960s we were at a crossroads to end segregation, I don’t know what it would take for this clan of leaders to understand that by process, and attitude in 2023, we remain as if it were an island segregated from the rest of the world, with voluntary segregation at home.

Greed, hatred and desire for power and control dominate the national spirit — not love for humanity, openness, charity or sharing. Until we find our way to the “love train”, we will remain behind the progressive nations on the planet. The arc of life bends towards broader civilisation.

First, we must have a love for humanity with the idea of wanting for our brothers and sisters what we want for ourselves. That means to love regardless of their race, place of origin or social and economic class. This is attainable because we are all innately human.

What is inhuman is when we are raised or inculcated with a belief that because the other has a different belief, religious or political view, they are outside the fold of fellowship. Worse is when a clan is made to feel entitled because of its clan. The history of colonialism, in particular, is strewn with examples where colonisers would empower a minority ethnic group in a country over its majority. A recent example was Iraq where the Americans endorsed a Sunni leader over a Shia population, and in East Africa where they backed the Tutsis over majority populations. Nativity is important; colonisers recognise this principle and operate counterintuitively to divide and conquer.

Bermuda will never realise the love that is innate until it gives birth to leadership that is from its soil. Bermuda suffers the same problem Africa has where leaders drift in, make a windfall and go back to their nativity. The reason there is such acrimony over the Fairmont Southampton hotel is that the developer has no native love for the hotel; it sees it singularly as a real estate proposition and not for the cultural or even historical significance it has. If not, the property would not be closed right now.

That the Premier is so indifferent about the hotel being open or closed, and is so welcoming to the developer, is in step with his own character. I recall the one and only time I had the occasion to meet with David Burt and his team at the Cabinet Office: for the duration of the meeting, he was looking at his telephone checking messages. The only time he looked up and stared at me in the face was when someone asked the question about regional competition and I mentioned Jamaica, but that they were not a direct competitor. So, despite all the conversation about the benefit to Bermuda, I got the distinct impression he became visibly engaged only when there was talk of Jamaica.

All of this was before I learnt he enjoyed the benefits of being raised in both Jamaica and Bermuda, with one of his parents being Jamaican. While he was educated in a private school in Bermuda, he would spend his holidays in Jamaica — so it could be said he had the best of both worlds. In a similar fashion, Ewart Brown, while born in Bermuda, also went to school in Jamaica. It is no accident they have a similar style and effect.

I love Jamaica and its contributions to culture and the determinist view of its people. Yet I know that no Bermudian will rise to any significant political rank in Jamaica. Culturally, Bermuda is different and we can see the historical conflicts of Bermudians dating back to the early 1800s with Turks & Caicos Islands and the Bahamas, both of which were formerly Bermudian before there was a cultural clash with Jamaica. The simple fact is Jamaica is larger, more populous and more dominant, thus has more influence. Unavoidably, there is the subject of cultural conflict where cultures invariably are in competition. That is why it’s called culture and that’s what culture does — it tries to replicate itself and turn everything into its kind.

Cultural conflict is not unique. Black Bermuda for the better part of a century had to fight for the pulpit against African-Americans in the AME Church and with the British for the Anglican Church pulpit — the same would be true against the West Indians for the Pentecostal. It’s not all political, it is universal — the Slavs against the Celts, Japanese against the Chinese, Arabs against Persians.

There is nothing new there. The problem arises when Bermuda is used not for good self-governance even for a church, but rather as a platform for personal advancement by those whose loyalties are divided because after they get what they want, they leave without concern for what they have left behind.

There is a mystical tie between mother and child, and it is a universal understanding of Mother Earth's nativity that yields fruits of different kinds made from the varying soils and elementary experiences of the differing populations. Each environment grows its own problems and solutions. The old biblical sayings are not without meaning when they say we raised up leaders and prophets from “among you”. Nor was it wrong when it says, “All before me were robbers and thieves.”

The principal point here is nativity is important, and to love nativity is equally as important. Love is the natural state that lies innate within every people, and without love, we cannot attain happiness or harmony, or have the magnetism to attract people and success. Bermuda needs a diverse population for its own survival, and that potential starts at the top. If we don’t have love at the top, we have mayhem at the bottom.

Can we look into our leadership and sense or feel love? If not, why not? Then please tell me what you feel. I can honestly say when I walk around this Halifax shopping centre, I feel love in the air.

• UPDATE: this opinion has been amended to correct that Ewart Brown does not have a Jamaican parent. We apologise for the error