Political activist Rolfe Commissiong voiced his frustration with the lack of action taken to deal with the challenges facing Bermuda's black males, calling again for a Commission on Black Male Culture.

"I am still waiting on Government and the politicians to get on board," he said. "I think people are back in their comfort zone."

Last month's events at Wellington Oval temporarily shook people out of that zone, he said, but Bermudians quickly slid back into a state of apathy. "Then, what happened on Bermuda Day got them wringing their hands again."

Several violent skirmishes broke out between rival groups at the weekend, including one at the National Sports Centre's north field where Bermuda Day festivities were taking place.

The Commission on Black Male Culture would investigate what is happening with the young and not-so-young black men in Bermuda, he said. "It is my view that the expressions of violence ... be nothing more than symptoms of a greater problem.

"We need to get to the underlying causes here."

The City of Hamilton, for example, one of the leading centres of reinsurance in the world, Bermuda's link to the global economy, is "a city of white males and black women," he said. "Where are our black men? What is their role in the 21st Century?

"This is not something we can sweep under a rug anymore."

The Government Statistician has not yet culled the results from the 2000 Census on life expectancy for black men, he said.

However the numbers from the 1990 Census show a telling story. In that Census, the life expectancy for black females was 76.81, while for white females it was 76.53. For white males it was 75.46. "But do you know what it was for black males? It was 68.25.

"I expected they would be last, and for it to be around a two or three year difference. But a seven to eight year gap?

"These are the social indicators a Commission would examine. Right now it's a mosaic. We need to put the pieces together to see the full picture."

Even former Premier Sir John Swan has conceded he did nothing to address the problems facing black men, Mr. Commissiong said, and is now calling for such a Commission, along with the likes of the NLP's Graeme Outerbridge and former PLP Senator Calvin Smith.

While current UBP leader Grant Gibbons has addressed a multitude of issues recently, however, Mr. Commissiong said he has yet to comment on this problem. "It belies the party's assertion that they are the New UBP.

"I know Government are discussing this at the highest levels," Mr. Commissiong said. "I just want them to stop talking."

The Commission need not be large, he said, consisting of perhaps four people with the required skill sets.

Such skills would include some background in sociology, a statistician, and others with "an intrinsic understanding of race and gender".

The Commission should only take three to four months to do the research and make their recommendations, he said.

"It would get everybody out of their sense of denial."