By SYANN THOMPSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

sthompson@tribunemedia.net

FORMER MP Philip Galanis says The Bahamas needs to heal its racial divide.

Reflecting on Majority Rule Day, he said while The Bahamas has had major accomplishments and is striving toward equality, much racial healing is needed in the nation.

"We need to come to terms with the racial divide. There is still an underlying and a racial undercurrent in the country and it is not only by black and white Bahamians, but it’s by black and white people. We need racial healing in this country. Then, we have got to be honest with ourselves about the Haitians in this country, they are people, they are entitled to certain rights. We cannot be denigrating them; we must recognise that it may be them today and us tomorrow. We must find a way to heal those wounds and do what we can to eliminate the racial division in this country,” Mr Galanis told The Tribune Thursday.

Majority Rule - January 10, 1967 - represented a day of liberation for not only the black masses, but for white Bahamians who suffered segregation under the United Bahamian Party.

Another area of setback is partisan politics, which he says also needs healing.

“The other area of disappointment in our society, as far as I am concerned in terms of nation building, is the fractured nature of our politics. We’ve become so partisan in our politics that there is, or seems to have been, an acceptance that – to the victor goes the spoils, which means essentially who wins the government gets all the spoils of the country,” he said.

The founding fathers of the country, include Sir Lynden Pindling, Sir Milo Butler, Arthur D Hanna, Paul Adderley, Hon George Smith, Cadwell Armbrister, Philip Bethel, Henry Bowen, Loftus Roker, Sir Kendal G L Isaacs, Sir Orville Turnquest, Sir Arthur Foulkes and Norman Solomon.

Mr Galanis said he does not believe that these men in building The Bahamas and framing our constitution planned for the “culture” that has emerged in today’s politics.

“That was not intended by the founding fathers that those who won should have all of the say and their entire way. I believe the plan really was to be more inclusive and over the years. I think, beginning perhaps in the 1990s, our politics became far too divisive, too fractious, too partisan and so many things in this country is governed by the party colours that you wear and the political party you support and it ought not be that way,” Mr Galanis said.

He added: “This country is called The Bahamas which means it’s for all Bahamians, regardless of their political association or their race, their religion, their social standing. The country really belongs to us all and when the elections are finished, we ought to be binding the wounds that may have been opened during the political season and recognise that we will sink or swim as a country and everyone benefits when we pull together.”

The Bahamas has had marked advancements since 1967 according to Mr Galanis, who says while the founding fathers were able to usher in political majority; when it came to ownership in industries like tourism, the country fell short.

“We have failed miserably in many ways, in encouraging more participation in the economic development of the country. The exception may be in the professional services industry, doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers who have engaged in nation building. We have not had that kind of success in tourism when it comes to ownership. When you look at our tourism sector, which constitutes some 65 percent of our GDP, very few Bahamians own significant or substantial investments in tourism.”