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It used to be that the 'glass ceiling' was the barrier that blacks and women met as they tried to work their way up in both government and corporate sectors.

It seems nowadays that the only glass ceilings left are in the Catholic Church and some Muslim societies.

Given the nature of the Catholic Church and these Muslim societies, perhaps it's more correct to describe it as a celestial ceiling.

We've seen two women preside as Premier of Bermuda. We've seen a woman Prime Minister of the U.K.. Within the next decade, we may see a woman president of the U.S..

There's a black Archbishop of York, a black Secretary of State for the U.S. [the second consecutive], and the head of the United Nations is black.

We might get to see a black Pope - after all, there were rumours at the last Papal election. But we certainly won't see a female Pope - not soon!

So celestial ceilings are still with us, but glass ceilings may have gone the way of cassette tapes and typewriters. Except here in Bermuda, where, though the glass ceilings have been penetrated, it seems to me that the ceilings have been replaced by a new phenomenon - the glass wall.

The glass wall seems to shut out in the same way that the glass ceiling once shut in. The glass wall allows Bermudians - in Bermuda - to see the world of wealth, high income, good jobs, good futures, promotions.

But the glass wall prevents some Bermudians from having access to this world that they can so easily see and that stretches all about them.

Whereas the old glass ceiling was finally found to be composed of gender and racial biases and gender and racial discriminations, this new glass wall seems to have a different set of ingredients. This wall's ingredients seem to be far more complex than those of the old glass ceiling.

The primary ingredients seem to be under-education and under-preparation. These two primary ingredients then combine with elements of poor work ethics and less than desirable levels of motivation.

This is then mixed in with the new, but important and basic, economic reality that the pay for some work has been lowered because, even in tiny isolated Bermuda, there has been considerable global outsourcing of some ordinary work. In effect, there has been significant globalization in Bermuda's 13,000 acre 39,000 person workplace.

In all, this new glass wall appears stronger and more impenetrable than the old glass ceiling.

This glass wall seems to be particularly effective at keeping out Bermudian males. It seems that all of us are now finally agreeing that there appears to be a barrier that's keeping 'YBM's' out of Bermuda's workplace.

All of us are now finally appearing to really get serious about doing something about the problem that we're finally beginning to agree on. I believe that the glass wall works against 'YWM's' as well, but I guess it'll take another while before some of us remove our racial blinders long enough to see that reality as reality. Strong as it is, though, this glass wall isn't shatter-proof. The wall can be shattered by the kinds of anti-social behaviour that shows up in reports of 'gang activity'; in allegations of organized 'looting'; in 'drive-bys' involving guns and machetes; and in a general and now finally acknowledged failure to empower - primarily through adequate education - more YBM's so that they are better equipped to climb over, crawl under, slide around, pass through, the glass wall.

Anything at all that enables YBM's and YWM's to properly get beyond the glass wall is good. If we don't get them inside the wall, then the day will come that their combined actions will shatter that wall - and, with that, totally mess up the business platform on which all those high income job-holders and glamourous corporate entities are busily garnering their incomes and profits.

No more glass ceiling. Now it's the glass wall.[[In-content Ad]]

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