The black Bermudian community determines the nature of this society. It almost always has. It has never accepted this responsibility because it has never recognised it. It has never recognised it because we have, and in many ways continue to do so, devalued ourselves and each other. It is for this reason that we bring in so many foreign “experts” to solve our problems, often to our detriment. One of the more dramatic, and ongoing, examples is our mega secondary schools. We listened to outside ‘experts’ when we did not need a great deal of intelligence, or in depth research, to realise that the more impersonal environment and security-challenged mega institutions were not the best way forward, particularly for those ‘at risk’ students. Even if we did not know it, it became very obvious when we saw that this grand scheme, for all practical purposes, was not going to touch the white community.Instead of recognising the implications of this, when the Progressive Labour Party began to govern, rather than looking for more educational enhancing approaches, they felt that it was important to do what the United Bermuda Party had done. They are the children in the black community who have the greater educational challenges. It is a miracle, and no doubt the commitment of many of those involved, that these schools have done as well as they have and achieved the success that they have.Sometimes those foreigners that we look to in order to address our challenges and needs have no respect for us and are only interested in how much of our hard earned taxpayers dollars they can take with them. We must learn to trust ourselves and each other to solve our own problems. That does not mean that we cannot learn from others, or even consult with others, but it does mean that we recognise our own unique circumstances as a deeply racially divided society with all of the destructive legacies of racism. We cannot simply take the solutions from elsewhere and impose them on Bermuda because we have a responsibility for the nature of this society.In spite of the numerous and obvious challenges which we as a black community face, there are reasons that we should value both ourselves and each other to a far greater extent than we do. We are indeed a peculiar people. We were thrown together as disparate individuals, deprived of our languages and our cultures thus we were solely dependent on our oppressors’ language and culture from which we were deliberately excluded as much as possible. In the face of numerous obstacles, we built our churches, our lodges or friendly societies and our clubs to sustain ourselves and to support each other. In spite of the hostile environment we began to develop our own culture, values and traditions which not only sustained us but civilised us because they met our needs. Certainly in those far more overtly difficult times we were far more civil to each other than we are today. It was our graciousness and our faith in both God and our future which made our early tourism industry such a success.Enforced segregation was so deliberately demeaning, as well as both economically and psychologically destructive and oppressive that we began to seek integration when we should have sought racial and social justice. The work of The Progressive Group and CUAS brought political “integration” for obvious reasons. We were needed in order for the white community to hold on to white political power. There was limited and superficial ‘“integration’ for a few blacks in other areas. As a result, today we often hear on the talk shows and elsewhere, some of those blacks declaring that racism is not the problem. They have never experienced it. They insist that those of us who continue to demand social and economic equity are creating the problem.We are charged with living in the past and creating a division with our language of the 1960s, even though the vast majority of Bermudians, both black and white, continue to live very segregated lives and have never known anything but a racially divided society. But even apart from those blacks with that mentality, most Bermudians do not see the practice of racism as a fundamentally and very destructive evil. Even those who acknowledge its existence, past or present, continue to see those men who established it, practised it and went to all kinds of lengths to maintain it, as “honourable” men.The minimising of the evil of racism and its psychological impact of internalised racism while at the same time having integration as a goal for those in the black community meant that not only did the PLP look to Great Britain for a political model but, beginning in the 1970s, many other blacks in roles of leadership or in other high profile roles began to look to the white community for their values. Thus they turned their backs on the very values and traditions that had sustained the black community through some very difficult times. The PLP may have led the way in the deliberate fractioning of the black community but others contributed to its disintegration. Individual self-interest and personal “integration” began to take the place of the struggle for social justice and equity for the entire black community.The PLP lists its many accomplishments in its 2012 platform. None of these accomplishments, not even the EEZ programme, which was positive in its concept, embraced the entire black community. The Equity Bill came closest to such a concept but as feeble a gesture as that was they failed to carry it through. We needed a policy and programme that recognised that the entire black community was responsible for the nature of this societyEducation was always important to the black community because it offered opportunities that would lessen the direct oppression and exploitation by the white community. Even after “political integration” and allegiance to the UBP proved to be far more rewarding than any educational attainment, the black community continued to show the value that it placed on those who were educated or who had become professionals. Since only those who could afford it received a secondary education that could open doors to higher education, those who could afford it were among the privileged.Even as changes came about, the black community, with its many more working class who had not received higher education or become professionals, continued to turn to professionals to represent them politically. Thus those who have had the good fortune of a higher education or who have become professionals have a very real responsibility for the nature of this society and whether or not justice is sought for the entire black community.At one time, any and every black Member of Parliament, was seen as representing, and speaking on behalf of, the entire black community, no matter how much they disagreed among themselves or how little success they might actually have. Party politics and political integration changed all of that. The white community had always attempted to create divisions within the black community, all of whom they segregated and despised equally.Black Bermudians were encouraged to see themselves as not only different from but superior to those from the Caribbean. Then those who were seen as “nice” blacks were more acceptable than those were not. The PLP not only contributed to this divisiveness within the black community but as the PLP inevitably placed more of its emphasis on “the Party” rather than the people, more and more people on the margins of the society felt unrepresented. This sense of being unrepresented became an increasingly serious problem. The further the black community and its black leadership moved from the 1960s, when the entire black community was united in its struggle for racial justice and equity, the more disintegrated and dysfunctional it became.The recent charge that the PLP had become “an aggrandising elite” indifferent to its black electorate did not happen suddenly overnight, nor did it apply to the black political leadership alone. Recent discussion within the public educational system, which for all practical purposes applies to the black community alone, illustrates the more widespread problem.At one time if a problem arose which might impact a black student, or students, it could be discussed between the educators involved wherever they might meet. Today, if an educator in a subordinate role approaches an administrator or supervisor they would be rebuked or “written up” for going against protocol and breaking the “chain of command”. Roles and status have become more important than solving the problem. Individuals who are insecure in themselves or their role demand recognition of their status as of more importance than the solution to any problem. In too many instances there is a loss of morale because senior educators who have at least acquired knowledge through experience are being demoted and displaced for much younger individuals, for no other perceived reason than nepotism.This often leads to unjustified arrogance on the part of the younger persons, not only because of their too rapid rise but also because they are encouraged to believe that the older person has little or no value. We are not building on the experience and knowledge of those who have acquired it. The discarding of those who are older, as well as the knowledge they have acquired, is one of the more destructive features of our recent “integration” and the adoption of white values.What may work well in the white community can be very destructive for us in the black community. Many of their protocols are intended to retain a structure that will help them to control others, whether in a colonial environment, or a racist one. It is absurd the extent to which many of us have accepted the values that have been so destructive to us. It is not “natural” for us because it is not in our collective self-interest to take on the values, traditions and protocols of those who segregated and despised us.Our historical experience and social development have been very different from that of the white community. To ignore this reality as we model ourselves after them is clearly very detrimental to us. We do live in a capitalistic society which by its very nature is selfish and cold blooded because it puts profits above people. We do all need money to live and we cannot turn the clock back. But we are intelligent human beings and we can make choices.We can make the deliberate choice to see our fellow human beings as having value and worthy of respect regardless of their role in life. Those in leadership roles in the black community whether as politicians, administrators or decision makers have a particular responsibility if we are going to change the nature of our society. They are the ones who, rather than being concerned with impressing those over whom they have control with their importance and status, need to show them and others that they have value and are respected.We need to recognise the extent to which we have not only internalised racism and so devalued ourselves but have taken on the values of the white community and have spent time and psychic energy either attacking, appeasing, or modelling ourselves after those in the white community rather than looking for solutions for the entire black community. We have rather naively expected too much from this superficial “integration”. The saga of the newspaper The Recorder illustrates the point. For almost 50 years a group of black men made tremendous sacrifice to publish The Recorder which told of events and issues within the black community which were totally ignored by the “white” newspapers.However when that group passed on and the Recorder was bought by a younger “integrated” generation, it soon ceased publication. It was apparently assumed that now that we were “integrated” there was no need for a “black” news paper. Moreover in the less oppressive and difficult circumstances there were no other blacks who were prepared to make the kind of sacrifices that others had made in order to see it published. Nevertheless, and ironically, there were those blacks who expressed anger because The Royal Gazette did not behave as The Recorder might have. Too often we have given up what was important to us and of value to us either because we were not prepared to make the same necessary sacrifices or because we naively thought that the white world would fill the need for us!We determine the nature of this society. We must take responsibility for that. We can only do that if we begin to value and respect ourselves and others in the black community who, whether they like it or not, have shared our historical experience and are a part of our social development which differs so significantly from that of others. Those in leadership roles must accept that they are largely responsible if the black community continues its decline or whether we turn it around by placing a value on ourselves and others in our community.* What do you think? E-mail acting Editor Jeremy Deacon with your thoughts which I will publish as a follow-up article. E-mail jdeacon@royalgazette.bm.