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As a black Bermudian, I am very proud of Barack Obama's achievements in the United States, a country so close to our shores that we were once just an annex of the Virginia Company's Charter.

I believe that if Senator Obama wins on November 4, we here in Bermuda will hear a cheer go up from end to end. We are Bermudian, but we do identify with our friends next door - or across the pond. We have suffered through slavery, racism, oppression, segregation, poverty, just like our neighbours of colour next door. We had our very own civil unrest in Bermuda. But we are also very different.

My father [the author Cyril Packwood] always - or at least during my lifetime - distinguished Bermuda's socio-political environment from that of the U.S. on the basis that any black Bermudian child could grow up believing that he (and now she) could be the Premier of our island. After all, black Bermudians are the majority racial group in Bermuda. Indeed, on December 29, 1971, Sir Edward Trenton Richards became Bermuda's first black premier when America was in the midst of desegregation battles, the civil rights movement and major social upheaval. The U.S. presidency has always appeared to be something that African-American children could not aspire to attain in their lifetime. Even 18 months ago, many of us saw Barack Obama's candidacy as illusory at best.

History of oppression

America was founded on religious freedoms and tolerance. It was also founded on slavery and racial oppression. Bermuda has that same history in terms of slavery and racial oppression and, contrary to the beliefs of many historians, racism was in place from the very beginning and, in fact, slavery was institutionalized very early as of 1623. Indeed, as early as 1617, a young indentured servant by the name of Symon was sentenced to be a slave. Both America and Bermuda have not been true to real notions of religious tolerance. We have all shown little tolerance for non-Protestant faiths, be they Catholicism or Islam or Judaism.

Obama's candidacy is a testimony to how far indeed America has come as a nation. Whether Obama wins or loses is less important for America in terms of race relations because today a young black child in America can aspire to the highest office in that country. But Obama's candidacy goes beyond race. It has touched religion. It has touched cultural differences. It has represented an inclusiveness of all America's people, no matter what their origins may be. Many have questioned Obama's faith. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell put it so well when he said, "...he's not a Muslim, he's a Christian. But the really right answer is 'so what if Obama were a Muslim? Why can a young Muslim American child not aspire to be President one day of his or her country?'" Yes, America has crossed many barriers with this election campaign.

I hope that we in Bermuda can accept this inclusive message, too. Whether we are of African, European, Filipino, Jamaican, Nigerian, Indian, or Pakistani origins, and the list continues (for we are a true cosmopolitan society), we must accept each other as people. There is no such thing any more as Christian values in a true all encompassing community. There are really only human values. We all love our island, our families, our faith and the world in which we live and of which we are a part. I hope that Obama's candidacy has helped us to recognize that Bermuda is made up of many people of many faiths and cultures and, like America, that recognition of our multi-ethnicity, multi-religions, multi-cultures will make us a stronger society, not just economically but socially and culturally.

In the end, Senator Barack Obama, a true African-American (his father was Kenyan and his mother was American), is a black man and, regardless of whether or not he makes it to the White House, we as black people can only be proud of all his accomplishments. This African-American, however, ran a race-neutral campaign. He reached out to all people, no matter from where they hailed. He is a hero to everyone. He has crashed through that glass ceiling, making race no longer a psychological barrier in America. He has shown that offering a positive view of the world and looking at challenges through the lens of hope and opportunity is far more powerful than race or creed.

Cheryl Packwood is CEO of the Bermuda International Business Association; she is writing here in a personal capacity.

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