according to Canon James Francis.

And at a public meeting last night the Human Rights Commission chairman urged the entire community to empower themselves to eradicate racism on the Island.

Nearly 150 people, including Deputy Premier Jerome Dill, Paget East MP Kim Young and Warwick West MP Ewart Brown, gathered at the St. Paul's AME Centennial Hall to meet the faces behind Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda.

The organisation, headed by an amalgamation of the Human Rights Commission, National Association for Reconciliation, Amnesty International and the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality, put together a list of raw data from a public meeting brainstorming session on racism in June.

The organisation published details of its findings in The Royal Gazette last week, with some of the more radical suggestions, including the abolition of private schools and an expatriate jobs register, prompting concern in certain areas.

Opening the meeting last night Canon Francis said: "These strategies have generated a great deal of excitement on the one hand and a degree of discomfort on the other. This is to be expected when a wide cross section of the community gets together to discuss such an emotive issue.

"But where from here? This is a people's movement. Four different agencies are the enablers of the process but not the controllers. It is the nature of effective organisations to allow a process such as this to continue. It is also the nature of these organisations to stand by the people and give them the necessary support to achieve their objectives. This we will do.'' After the chairpersons of the various CURB committees, which include economic, spiritual, educational and legislative committees, had been presented to explain their methods of sifting through the data and why they wanted to become involved, it was then the public's turn to raise more recommendations and concerns.

The group was able to recruit more volunteers to sit on its committees as more and more members of the public came forward with ideas.

After nearly two hours of discussions, complaints, and possible solutions, Canon Francis said: "The train is moving but it is now speeding up.

"Tonight we have been able to put a human face to the recommendations that came out of the first forum.

"The committees are going to be enlarged and will be meeting to develop one or two manageable strategies -- for example, closing private schools is not a manageable strategy.

"Some people claimed that this group was going to die a death but we are getting stronger. Some of these strategies are so simple and when you have 500 people marching it would make a change. I don't think people know the power they have. They now need to develop their own collective bodies. It's an evolving process but one thing is certain -- Bermuda will never be the same again.

Details of the next meeting of CURB have yet to be announced.