I hear many people talking about the UBP "Break up". I don't believe it has been a break up but dissolution. A "break up" implies that there were irreconcilable differences between various groups within the party. Dissolution suggests that whereas the differences were very strong, there were grounds for believing that the UBP could survive under a changed organisation. In other words, I believe that there is scope for a reconstitution of the UBP by changing its structure and purpose.

In the main, this structure reflected an ethnic rather than an ideological organisation. This statement may surprise many people. However from its inception, the UBP has bragged about being the party that would bring about racial unity to Bermuda. Hence, how could I possibly suggest that there were 'irreconcilable differences' within the UBP based upon ethnic differences?

To appreciate that comment, one needs to recall that the UBP was formed a few years after the formation of the PLP which began and continues as an overwhelmingly black organisation. Why was the PLP almost totally black after having gone to great lengths to ensure that its party platform stressed the importance of all segments of the Island getting along together? In fact, in order to demonstrate its good will, it ran several white candidates none of whom were able make an impact on the voting patterns of Bermuda's white community. True, Dr. Ball and Mrs. Dorothy Thompson were elected and subsequently Mr. David Allen – all of whom were white Bermudians. However, the three of them were also elected in predominantly black constituencies. Hence, it is safe to say that until the advent of Mr. Zane Desilva, white Bermudian candidates were unable to make an impact on the white voter, if they represented the PLP.

Despite the election of Mr. Desilva, can we state that racial voting patterns have changed in today's Bermuda? I doubt it. Voting patterns are very slow to change in constituencies which are characterised by the existence of a dominant group which share the same racial background such as in the constituencies of Pembroke East and Paget East.

Of course no one who is politically aware needs reminding of the points I have just made. Voting in Bermuda continues to be influenced by race to a surprisingly great extent, given the major advances made in race relations. The leadership of both parties understands this and certainly take this reality into account when designing their election strategies. Given the belief that the vote of white Bermudians "is in the bag", UBP Parliamentary candidates assume they have the luxury of being able to concentrate solely on the black voter population during election campaigns, believing that their chances of losing their white voter base is about equal to the survival of a "snowball in hell". However, although the PLP also expects the very great proportion of its vote to come from the black population, they can not afford to be as confident of this vote as the UBP is with respect to the vote of white Bermudians. Fortunately, the black vote is substantially larger than the white, hence the PLP can survive with a smaller proportion of that vote than is true for the UBP with respect to white vote.

However, I and others believe that the historic voting pattern is changing. Certainly, there is evidence that the UBP is currently less attractive to black voters than previously. I believe that this is occurring because their voter base is realising that blacks with the appropriate education and administrative experience can manage the government of Bermuda as well or better than the former racially mixed management of the UBP. Secondly, they are rapidly learning that expenditure by the Government is heavily influenced by the leadership of the party in power and that in the not too distant past this accounted for much of the voter attraction to the UBP. Thus, Bermudians of both races now realise that with the PLP government in power and Dr. Ewart Brown as its leader, government expenditure on goods and services is shifting noticeably to the businesses owned by the black majority.

Of substantial importance is the fact that contrary to the negative commentary heard regularly from both the print and electronic media, PLP leader Dr. Brown does not dislike white Bermudians. However, Dr. Brown does realise that he has an obligation to reverse past government decisions whereby blacks complained that not only did they find great difficulty in obtaining contracts for goods and services from the business community, they also faced similar difficulty in obtaining business contracts from the Bermuda government. This last fact should not have occurred given the fact that the majority of Bermudian citizens are black.

However, it is no secret that blacks were excluded from participating fully in the Bermuda economy as a result of attitudes created during slavery and the long period of segregation that followed, it is clear also that this condition is disappearing and the community is now entering a period of healthy competition.

Still, it cannot be ignored that the UBP dominance of government was due to a large extent to the support of many blacks, it is also true that these blacks felt that their support of that party would enable them to access the economy on the same basis as their white colleagues. Unfortunately, statements coming from defectors from the party clearly indicate that this did not turn out to be the case.

While I believe that the UBP political leadership truly intended to provide its black supporters greater access to the Bermuda economy, it is clear that the party's white supporters have not cooperated to any great extent. This should not have been surprising to anyone since white Bermudians have never been a homogenous group that screamed "How High" whenever the ruling elite said "Jump". Hence, no matter how much UBP political leaders such as Sir Henry Tucker might have wanted to open up the economy to the blacks who had joined the UBP, the white rank and file would have none of it.

But what does the future hold for us? Bermuda has been very successful as a nation. We have avoided armed violence – racial or otherwise – despite gross economic inequities suffered by black Bermudians. Clearly, this is because successive governments have assured us that education and training will open doors to accessing the Bermuda economy. To this end, we have seen substantial success by blacks in the business community especially in the field of Real Estate i.e., the home rental business. Further, it is becoming increasing apparent that young Bermudians have been accessing the higher positions in the business community in ever increasing numbers.

Still there is much work to be done with respect to changing existing attitudes with respect to racial issues. Bermudians' attitude towards racial matters is only one of several beliefs of long standing that serve no other purpose than to keep the country divided and unable to reach the so-called 'next level'. In my view, this last vestige of racism must be eliminated and the PLP government is in an excellent position to accomplish this given the existence of current very favourable racial attitudes.