people offended by a recent advertisement for The Bottom Line business magazine.

NAR spokesperson Eva Hodgson said that the people believed the ad, which featured a young white boy in a business suit with a briefcase and a young black boy in more casual attire talking on a cellular phone, depicted blacks as subordinates.

"Several people were quite indignant at what they perceived as a subliminal message, or as a reflection of Bermuda's reality that does not seem to be changing very rapidly,'' Dr. Hodgson said. "They believed that the young white boy presented the image of a successful, serious-minded businessman in a suit and briefcase while the young black boy was presented in casual attire that was perhaps not very serious, and certainly not representing the executive level of the young white boy with his briefcase.'' Dr. Hodgson added that the people who brought the advertisement to the NAR's attention questioned whether it was consciously or unconsciously sending the message that powerful white executives are in control while blacks are the "casual subordinates''.

"The NAR is sensitive to Bermuda's reality regardless of the intentions of the advertisement,'' she said. "There continues to be a tremendous disparity between the two communities in terms of wealth, status and power that the NAR would like to see being addressed far more aggressively.'' Chris Gibbons, managing editor of Crown Communications, which publishes The Bottom Line and RG Magazine and is a subsidiary of the Royal Gazette Ltd., commented: "We have had a number of calls from black readers who shared the perceptions outlined by Dr. Hodgson which, to be honest, took us by surprise.

"When we arranged the shoot for the ad campaign, we asked the parents of the young models -- one white boy, one black boy and a mixed race girl -- to dress in business attire.

"The young black model, as far as we were concerned, was dressed in `stockbroker' office attire of shirtsleeves and braces and we had him hold a mobile phone in the shot,'' he added.

"We share the NAR's sensitivity to racial issues in Bermuda as evidenced by the subject matter of many of the articles in RG and The Bottom Line. However, this issue has made us more aware that we can't always make assumptions about people's perceptions and we will endeavour to be more sensitive in the future.'' MAGAZINE NJ CLUB CLB