HAMILTON, Bermuda (CMC) — Former Premier of Bermuda Dr Ewart Brown believes independence could be the key to ending racism in the country.

Brown, 75, in an interview with the Royal Gazette newspaper, said that black people, who account for 52 per cent of the 64,000 population, were still treated as second-class citizens in Bermuda and that racial discrimination was rife. Whites, the second largest ethnic group, make up 31 per cent of the population.

But Brown, who was premier between 2006 and 2010, said independence — rejected overwhelmingly by voters in a 1995 referendum — could change the landscape in an island where the national debt currently stands at US$3.1 billion.

“The race situation in Bermuda is as bad as it has ever been. It runs deep and wide and has never been honestly confronted. It’s a very sensitive issue and people are reluctant to discuss anything that might result in a reduction in privilege,” Brown said, adding “it is a phenomenon that has been carefully constructed and has been devastatingly impactful.”

The former head of the ruling Progressive Labour Party (PLP) said that a frank discussion on the subject was the first step towards a better society.

He went on to describe racism in the country as a pus-filled wound that needs to be released.

“For black people, and white people, it’s uncomfortable. But it takes that to take the scab off and release the pus,” he said.

“What we have done over the years is cover it up and allow scarring to occur. Every now and then it flares up, you give the patient an antibiotic and it quietens down. But we haven’t done the required surgery, which is really to open and release,” Brown added.

Sir John Swan, who headed the now-defunct United Bermuda Party, pushed for independence in 1995, but he was rebuffed and almost three-quarters of voters rejected cutting ties with Britain. Then PLP leader Frederick Wade urged his supporters to boycott the referendum, saying the PLP wanted independence on its terms.

There has been no further attempt to change the status quo in the intervening 27 years with opinion polls regularly showing the majority still opposed to independence.