We Bermudians just love to have it both ways. It is a trait that is deeply ingrained in us and one that manifests itself in just about every facet of our lives. The recent removal of Grant Gibbons as the leader of the United Bermuda Party and the election to the post of Wayne Furbert, once again demonstrated this fact, in spades.

It also offered us a little window to examine the minds of apparently many whites in the community. This was evidenced by the intellectual contortions that some of the more prominent among them endured in an attempt to square the circle with respect to the unceremonious departure of Dr. Gibbons from the front line of UBP parliamentary and electoral politics.

Let us start here. Prior to his removal in an effort to shore him up and address his liability on the issue of race, most white UBP leaning commentators primarily through letters to the editor and on various Internet blogs would make the consistent argument, shamelessly borrowing form the Martin Luther King hymnal, that Dr. Gibbons should not be judged by the colour of his skin and race should play no role in selecting or supporting a leader of the UBP, conveniently ignoring the fact however that no white male or woman for that matter has won an election while leading the Party for over 25 years for a very good reason.

And that reason is that with the advent of universal adult suffrage and then the later expansion of the franchise by lowering it to 18 during the 1970’s, the UBP’s formula for electoral victory has increasingly revolved around one unassailable preoccupation. That being, how does the party attract enough African Bermudian voters to join with Bermuda’s white minority who are dominant within that party to achieve political success.

The core fact, largely obscured or conveniently ignored when discussing the racial polarisation of Bermuda along political lines is that racial polarisation exists because Bermuda’s white community has voted consistently as a racial bloc in favour of the UBP over the last ten elections since 1968. Although some will assert that they have been doing so for far longer, say, since the 17th Century, but let’s not get too picky here.

Has anyone ever wondered or bothered to ask, when, as was recently stated in an editorial of whom the average so called swing voter was or looked like.

Well, I tell you, they are virtually all black. You see in Bermuda, there has never been a swing voter who was white — ever. OK, I exaggerate a little, but you get the picture.

Now I know that there were some whites who voted for the Progressive Labour Party in 1998 and I know that if I scoured the country from East to West I could probably find about 300 of them. But there are at least 12,000 voters of European descent in Bermuda.

Wayne Furbert, in an interview in the Bermuda Sun a few weeks ago after gaining the leadership post, stated that approximately 85 percent of eligible white voters vote for the UBP. I believe that Mr. Furbert, who is a Christian after all, was being charitable. I would bet at least $20,000 that over the last ten elections that the real figure approaches 95-97 percent.

To his credit, he did say that he felt it was a little odd that virtually all white Bermudians voted for the UBP, yet I am sure that the alternative for him would be too unpalatable to really consider. Imagine a Bermuda where at least 15 percent of white voters did what Black voters have been doing for decades and cross the political colour line, now that would be really something, in fact, earth shattering.

What is really humorous though, is how those same white commentators have now changed their spin. Now, according to them, Wayne Furbert was not chosen because of the colour of his skin, but simply because he was the best candidate and race was not a factor in his selection.

How else could they spin it frankly, for if you deny that race was not the critical factor in ousting Dr. Gibbons from what is essentially a white party — go figure — you then have to, in order to keep the story consistent, assert that Mr. Furbert is not there to cynically attract black voters, but rather, is there because he was simply the best man for the job or some other type of nonsense. The fa|0xe7|ade, or black face of the party is reestablished, thereby obscuring its reality and all is well in the world again.

So that even though race and the political calculation which is its by product, was the chief catalyst for the change of leadership, it remains the 500 pound gorilla that must never be acknowledged, the reality that dare not speak its name.

We have seen it all before however, only too long ago, Grant’s uncle was replaced by Sir John Swan and then Dr. David Saul was replaced by Dame Pamela Gordon and now Grant, all, with little variation, due to the same core inherent contradiction within the party itself and one increasingly perceived by the so called swing voter ... er, I mean black voter.

And now the stakes are far higher. With the changes to the electoral boundaries in 2002 and the elimination of what to some were characterised as double-seated quasi-gerrymandered constituencies, the UBP must now attract even more black voters to place alongside its monolithic and unassailable white voting bloc to achieve electoral success. Some guestimates now place that figure at between 20 to 30 percent of the black vote.

Or, perhaps failing that, hope that significant number of African Bermudian voters are so turned off by the current Government, that they stay home and sulk.

A tall order indeed, one that even Wayne Furbert may find beyond his ability to grasp. This may be one prayer of his that does remain unanswered.