must be stamped out.

They said it was a mistake for whites to dismiss institutionalised racism as just a perception among blacks.

"It is real, and we must take steps to do something about it as we move to the next century,'' said Community Affairs Minister the Hon. Leonard Gibbons .

"Racism of any sort will not be tolerated,'' said new Education Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira .

Shadow Finance Minister Mr. Eugene Cox said he hoped Mr. Gibbons' declaration would mark a change in attitude among whites.

But some Opposition MPs appeared unconvinced by Government's anti-racist line, suggesting it was designed to win votes.

Yesterday saw the resumption of the House of Assembly's debate on Judge Stephen Tumim's report on Bermuda's criminal justice system.

The report calls for wholesale changes in Bermuda's justice system, moving towards rehabilitation rather than imprisonment.

Its underlying aim is to cut the disproportionate number of young blacks jailed.

And one of its objectives was to examine the perceptions people of different races and backgrounds were treated differently.

Opposition Leader Mr. Frederick Wade said he hoped MPs would continue debating with less heat and more focus on the issues.

Mr. Wade went on to list previous reports on Bermuda's justice system, including those by Wooding, Lord Pitt, and Gurr.

"We seem to be eliciting the same promises from Government that were elicited before in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, and I must say to no avail,'' he said.

"It makes one wonder whether time has stood still. We are still facing the same issues and problems.'' Some people in charge of the Country at the time of the reports were in this chamber, said Mr. Wade.

Delegated Affairs Minister the Hon. Sir John Sharpe , for example, was Premier when the Wooding report hit his desk.

And Sir John was the architect of the oppressive traffic laws which the Opposition had opposed.

"We were opposed to mandatory sentences,'' said Mr. Wade, pointing out Bermuda's traffic laws created friction between people and the Police.

He added: "All of the problems we are faced with in the system have been created by the majority party, the United Bermuda Party. They are the people who created the monster, and should destroy the monster.'' Mr. Wade strongly backed Judge Tumim's recommendation for the Human Rights Commission to incorporate a race relations division, with responsibility for dealing with racial issues.

He said the PLP had been pressing for the commission to be given the power to probe such matters, free from Ministerial interference.

But Government had turned this measure down, although it now supported it.

Mr. Wade stressed the Human Rights Commission should have the power, for example, to investigate banking policies and why blacks were not promoted.

Government should not fear this would start "witch-hunts'' -- this was not the Bermudian way.

Mr. Wade urged Government to provide funding for verbatim reporting in courts, and the Police video and tape recording of statements.

Lawyers like himself knew the frustration of waiting for judges to laboriously write down evidence in long-hand, he said.

Mr. Wade said it was wrong for the Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan to compare Bermuda's race record with other countries.

The standing of Bermuda's blacks should be compared with whites here.

And Government statistics showed black households earned 30 percent less than white ones.

Mr. Wade finished by urging Government to draw upon the recommendations of previous criminal justice reports. Together with the Tumim report, a proper blueprint for Bermuda could be compiled.

Community Affairs Minister the Hon. Leonard Gibbons immediately stressed Judge Tumim had only headed the investigation into the justice system.

There had been considerable contributions from Bermudians, to provide an excellent mix of expertise.

Mr. Gibbons said he was shocked by the PLP's response to the debate so far.

"It would appear they have not studied the report, and have no plan.'' Mr. Gibbons said Government backed Tumim's recommendations for a bookstore to give people access to laws and official reports.

It also supported incorporating a race relations division in the Human Rights Commission.

But it was wrong for the PLP to say Government was "looking over the shoulder'' of the commission.

On institutionalised racism, Mr. Gibbons said whites must accept it as a reality.

"We must raise racism to the top of one's mind, put it on the top of the agenda, so it can be talked about and eliminated.'' But he said "overt racism'' had been attacked by the community and the Human Rights Commission.

And he reminded MPs it was only human to sin, and sometimes people in the heat of the moment made racist remarks.

Mr. Reginald Burrows (PLP) doubted whether the UBP had the courage and will to make the Tumim dream a reality.

"I think it has been said you can't legislate attitudes, but I would hope if you are going to live as friends attitudes will change.'' Mr. Burrows said Bermuda had enjoyed economic success over the last 25 years.

"But our moral fibre is decaying,'' he added.

Mr. Burrows said crime and drug problems were rampant, and Christian principles trampled on.

It was for the education system to reach out and help young black males falling through the cracks.

That was why the lack of opportunities for the young to acquire technical skills was to be deplored, said Mr. Burrows.

"This has caused a lot of black youngsters to fall by the wayside,'' he added.

Mr. Burrows also supported the idea for a "half way house'' as suggested by the Prison Fellowship.

Mr. Cox said a change in attitudes was essential to combatting racism.

Government, after so many criminal justice reports, was 25 years late in setting out to tackle the problem, during which time many young blacks had been left to suffer.

But Mr. Cox added: "Better late than never''.

Mr. Cox praised the Bermudian contribution to Judge Tumim's report, which had steered him in the right direction.

And he said Judge Tumim -- being English -- may be given more credence than the authors of previous reports.

Mr. Cox underlined the importance of funding for Tumim's recommendations. He told Government: "Put your money where your mouth is.'' On drugs, Mr. Cox was disappointed by the "half-hearted'' attempts of Government to deal with the issue.

Education was the key to tackling problems with the justice system, but time was running out, Mr. Cox added.

Dr. Terceira said he had been brought up "colour blind'' and had no time for racists. He had also raised his children in this way.

"I like to think it sets an example as role models for others to follow,'' said Dr. Terceira.

It was wrong for people to put their heads in the sand like ostriches and ignore the problem of institutionalised racism. But he questioned why the PLP was not a better example of integration between whites and blacks.

Dr. Terceira continued by saying the Portuguese community had been largely ignored in the debate.

The Portuguese came here initially as "peasants'' and for their skills in agriculture to be tapped. Not allowed to go to white schools, they lived in black neighbourhoods and this brought them closer to the blacks, but also produced frictions as they competed for jobs.

Blacks and the Portuguese generally came to see themselves as equals.

"We have made progress, but of course not fast enough. If we could turn a tap and switch off institutionalised racism we would.'' Dr. Terceira believed the proposed middle school system would enhance integration.

As Education Minister, he was also resolved to try and boost technical training.

Shadow Education Minister Ms Jennifer Smith said Judge Tumim had noted how many young blacks lacked self esteem and identity.

That was why it was critical for Bermuda to have a broad and good pre-school system -- as the PLP had constantly stated.

And Dr. Terceira's pledge to extend pre-school education boded well.

Ms Smith said "supplemental help'' was needed to help people from early childhood.

Problems could include divorces, physical abuse, alcohol, and drugs. Parents, too, may not have skills for raising youngsters.

"Our responsibility is to see we don't lose any of these young children.'' It was too late to begin tackling problems when children reached 15 or 16.

That was when their anger was already showing itself.

Ms Smith said Judge Tumim had recognised segregation still existed at schools.

While former white schools are fully integrated, blacks schools were not.

Ms Smith expressed puzzlement at the Premier's boast about the impressively high number of high school graduates entering Bermuda College.

She could not find the statistics to substantiate this.

Ms Smith continued by stressing the need for "alternative education'' -- such as that provided by Government's "time out'' programme.

But the programme -- which only had one student on it currently -- needed to be properly administered.

Ms Smith said many children who did not have a positive school experience had been victimised by the infamous 11-plus exam.

But the problem of youngsters being stigmatised still existed -- as shown by the entry tests for Berkeley Institute and Warwick Academy.

Some 60 percent of primary school students sat the exams, while only 20 percent were eligible to enter.

"It is my understanding the results of the tests were known within two weeks.

Yet the parents had to wait until mid-May to find out whether their children had been successful.'' Ms Smith said it was evident parents were still afraid of the public school system, lacking confidence in it.

For 60 percent to believe Berkeley and Warwick were the best schools demonstrated this.

Equality of curricula, facilities, and staffing was needed throughout Bermuda.

Ms Smith went on by deploring the fact no truant officer was available.

Under the Education Act, children had to attend school between 5 and 17. Yet there was no officer to enforce this.

Ms Smith also called on the business community to show more support for Bermuda's young.

On the proposed neighbourhood schools, it was essential for them to offer an equal education.

"If we can't convince parents of this we will fail. We must deal with parents' perceptions.'' Ms Smith said the Tumim report highlighted the importance of after-school programmes and extra curricula activities.

Yet there had been Budget cutbacks in both these areas, she added.

Transport Minister the Hon. Ralph Marshall said he knew institutional racism as a Portuguese.

When he was young, he said the janitor was the only Portuguese person working in Bermuda banking.

"I now own the building that is the landlord for the bank,'' he said.

"Discrimination against Portuguese has practically disappeared.'' He dismissed Opposition claims the UBP voices support for Tumim Report recommendations but refuses to implement them. Just last week, he introduced legislation to end compulsory prison sentences for traffic offences, he noted.

National Liberal Party Leader Mr. Gilbert Darrell said he was not sure he wanted to stop prison sentences for traffic offences.

"Sometimes we get carried away about our social conscience,'' he said.

"Everybody spends some time on the road and we see such abuses.'' Some drivers "should be locked up in the first place,'' let alone for repeat offences.

On racism, "we who are black have a tendency to continue to blame white people if there is racism'', Mr. Darrell told the House. But, "we have a lot of black people, possibly including myself, who are racist.

"We're not going to solve it unless we acknowledge that there are two sides to every coin.'' Mr. Darrell said he was once turned away from a restaurant and worked in a job at which he could not visit the manager's office. "There has been some improvement,'' he said.

Mr. Ottiwell Simmons (PLP) said Mr. Marshall's life story was an impressive one. But there are blacks who started banks "where the white man came back and took the bank from them'', he said.

Bermuda Provident Bank, now the Bermuda Commercial Bank, was started by blacks who now "can't even save (money) in the bank, let alone own the bank''.

Pointing to a passage in the Tumim Report where it was suggested blacks have been in positions to make change but felt unable to do so, Mr. Simmons said it pointed to prominent blacks in the UBP.

The Paget East constituency of Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan is the only one with a majority of white voters, Mr. Simmons said. "The Premier is unable to make change in favour of his own people, because he is voted in by another race of people.'' Years ago, blacks who joined the UBP were told they would "get a lot of money,'' he charged.

Mr. Simmons said he recently visited Magistrates' Court and was shocked by the number of blacks present. "Even the Magistrate was black,'' he said.

He said 98 percent of the prison population was black and the other two percent was foreigners. "What do you people do?'' he asked of whites. "Mr.

Clean? I don't believe it.

"I don't believe that white people are without crime.'' Mr. Simmons also charged that the UBP was making the new prison extremely comfortable so blacks will "repeat the crime and keep going back''.

Tourism Minister the Hon. C.V. (Jim) Woolridge recited a list of blacks in prominent positions in Bermuda. "A tremendous amount of progress has been made in this Country,'' he said. "It would be wrong for us to sell ourselves short.'' As for offers of money for joining the UBP, "I've never gotten a penny,'' Mr.

Woolridge said. "As a matter of fact I've sacrificed the best years of my life.'' He said Government should make sure the Tumim Report was available to young people, who he urged to read it. Then, youths "should be prepared to make the Government waste its $40 million, and leave (the prison) empty,'' Mr.

Woolridge said.

Deputy Opposition Leader Mr. Walter Roberts said none of the recommendations in the Tumim Report were new, and it was "a strong indictment against this present Government'' that they were not implemented earlier.

In 1964, Mr. Roberts said he proposed an advisory council on race relations similar to that recommended in Tumim. One was established but later discontinued.

Mr. Roberts, whose Somerset Bridge Hotel was recently placed in receivership, said he always felt he was doing well, but wondered if he ever "really needed the support of a bank, what would happen? "Mr. Speaker, I found out,'' he said.

He also charged that after joining the UBP, Mr. Woolridge bought land in Wreck Hill "free just about''.

"When he sold it he made a mint of money,'' he said.

If Environment Minister the Hon. Gerald Simons had support of the white establishment as Education Minister, his reforms would have been implemented, Mr. Roberts said. Pointing at Mr. Simons, he said he understood his frustrations, "but that's your problem, because you joined the wrong party''.