A white woman taking part in a two-day Government race summit admitted she had been made to feel uncomfortable — but said it was necessary in order to get to the heart of the issue.

The Bermuda Race Relations Initiative has been taking place for the last two days at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess, involving groups of white and black people.

The main organiser was Rolfe Commissiong, a consultant to the Premier. There are plans to repeat the event several times between now and November.

Yesterday Tina Nash, 36, said she was glad to see ordinary members of the community as well as those in authority, come together for serious solutions on race relations. She said: "You've got to get through the mud to get to the beach. Especially in the white community, we need to be made uncomfortable.

"I haven't really learned anything new but it's refreshing to see different faces here especially people in authority and in Government, that I normally don't have access to.

"I'm often a person who will ask the hard questions of the white community and ask others to step up and be accountable to people's feelings."

When asked if the conference accomplished anything, she added: "Absolutely. Dialogue is key and I really believe if you are going to fix anything, you've got to talk about it."

Americans Dr. Bernestine Singley, who is black, and Professor Robert Jensen, who is white, facilitated the event. Both are regarded as experts in the field of race relations.

Both facilitators said they were "impressed" by Government's initiative to tackle race, which is unseen in other countries.

Dr. Singley said: "We are very appreciative in being involved in this process. I find it fascinating and astounding as a person who has been involved in this kind of dialogue all my life.

"One of the reasons conversations like this don't work past the initial conversation is because it doesn't build up to anything.

"One of the things that has happened is that the participants made it clear that they don't want to just talk, they want to continue talking but also take action and that has been heard loud and clear."

Prof. Jensen echoed the feelings of Dr. Singley by adding: "Bermuda is not the United States. We realised how different Bermuda is in many ways.

"My focus is on the white population and how white people have to step up and take responsibility in this big initiative in a way that has never happened in the past.

"We have to move beyond just pleasant talk, and talk of feelings, and move towards a systemic level by looking at policy and how historical and very contemporary the reality of the racialised disparities between black and white, must be addressed at that systemic level.

"We know of no other nation where the Government has committed at this level to taking on the issue of race squarely and honestly. In the United States we have our history of failed conversations on race, and we think this is a chance for something quite different."

Mr. Commissiong said it was important for Government to hold these types of discussions on race.

He said: "The Government has made a commitment with our co-facilitators here, to ensure that this process continues right on until November.

"We are going to have these types of events happening on an average of one to four every six weeks."

Also in attendance for the second day of the summit were Opposition Leader Wayne Furbert and Senator Gina Spence-Farmer, the Opposition's spokesperson on race.

Mr. Furbert brushed off criticism from former UBP MP Jahmal Simmons who slammed the Opposition for having no representation during the first day — making it clear neither he nor Sen. Spence-Farmer were aware of the event.

He claimed he was "purposely" not invited by Government.

"It is unfortunate that there are those out there who continue to make this a political issue when it comes to race," he said.

"My colleague Gina Spence-Farmer who is responsible for this ministry was in the Senate doing the people's business. It wasn't until we were made aware of this event that we attended.

"What we understand is that there were several people on the Government side who left just after lunch (yesterday) as well as another gentleman who also did not attend in the afternoon — I think his name was Jahmal."

While Mrs. Spence-Farmer was pleased to participate in the discussions, she noted an absence in the amount of young people in attendance.

"I would have liked to see more young people. I think a lot of times when we addressed these issues they are left out of the equation," she said.

"I would like to see the Government really take the bull by the horns and do something really active." Around 75 participants took part in the event, which was hailed as a success by organisers.