before they can conquer racism.

Twenty-year-old Mr. Jhon Gibbons drove home the message as he vented his rage, despair and bitterness over Bermudian society.

He appealed to fellow blacks: "We can't begin to deal with the enemy outside until we have dealt with the enemy within.'' Mr. Gibbons said crime and violence were sweeping through the young black community.

And he pointed an accusing finger at the older generation of blacks for this disunity.

He said they had lost touch with themselves, and needed an urgent wake-up call.

"Get a soul,'' he urged.

Mr. Gibbons was speaking at Thursday night's public forum on racism, which had been organised by the National Spiritual Assembly of The Baha'is of Bermuda.

About 70 people -- mainly black -- packed Cathedral Hall for the three-hour meeting, which carried the theme, "A Dialogue In Black and White''.

Mr. Gibbons was on a panel of speakers who included a retired Superior Court judge from Los Angeles, James F. Nelson, and the Federal Commissioner for the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission, Dr. Robert Henderson.

Other panelists were Mr. Tommy Outerbridge, trainee lawyer Ms Charmaine Outerbridge and president of the Portuguese Bermudian Association Ms Anna Maria Ferreira.

Members of the audience were given a chance to speak, and among the suggestions for healing racial tensions were: Finding new educational approaches to prevent racism taking root in schools; Economic redistribution to give blacks a fairer deal; Teaching Portuguese in schools; Opening up new employment opportunities for the Portuguese, as opposed to just landscaping and cleaning jobs; and Creating a musical radio jingle calling on Bermudians of all colours to unite.

This would be along the lines of the "Keep Bermuda Beautiful'' jingle.

Some also said the onus lay with white people -- as holders of economic power -- to meet blacks hal f way across the bridge of racial divide.

"Whites have never wanted to be our friends,'' said one man.

In an impassioned speech, Mr. Nelson declared racism, looked at from any angle, had to be immediately, permanently and totally eradicated.

This was not open to debate, and people could ill afford to remain aloof from racism.

The problem not only affected its victims, but perpetrators were also corrupted and perverted.

He added the solution lay with changing the hearts of people. But that was not easy.

"Someone once said the longest journey in the world is from the head to the heart.'' Dr. Henderson said there needed to be a transformation of the spirit of individuals.

"Nothing short of genuine love, consummate tact, extreme understanding, patience, and powerful effort will lead to the kind of solutions which allow us to replace the divisions.'' He said societies needed to rest on a spiritual foundation, and it was time for blacks and whites to forge a partnership to achieve "nobility, equality and oneness''.

Mr. Outerbridge urged people to look beyond racism.

"We need to believe in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. If we accept we are all brothers, our differences will slide away.'' Ms Outerbridge said it was important to define racism. Only that way, would people know what they were fighting against.

She read out two dictionary definitions, which described racism as the belief in the inherent superiority of one race over another.

Ms Ferreira concentrated on the plight of the Portuguese, calling for Government policy changes.

She said Portuguese students had complained about being rejected by the school system, and being talked down to by teachers.

It was also time to stop blaming the Portuguese for taking away jobs from Bermudians.