Equality's survey is how little in it is genuinely surprising.

The CURE survey, released on Friday, shows (like recent Employment Surveys) that whites hold a disproportionate number of jobs in senior management and a disproportionate number of whites earn the very top salaries.

At the other end of the scale, blacks hold a disproportionate number of unskilled and low paying jobs and a disproportionate number earn the lowest salaries. The CURE survey focuses on the business world, and leaves out small businesses and Government, where it may be that many top civil servants and professionals are black. Their inclusion might reduce the disproportion slightly. The CURE survey also "drills down'' further, examining things like bonuses, housing allowances and hiring patterns. But the basic finding remains the same. Forty years after the beginning of the end of desegregation, whites on the whole enjoy much higher incomes than blacks.

That vast progress that has been made since 1959 is undeniable, but that does not mean Bermuda cannot do better. For business owners -- the primary target of the CURE report -- this should be an economic imperative. A well trained work force which reflects the diversity of the community will serve its customers better and more effectively. That in turn should mean a better bottom line.

The major question is how to effect change.

Much of the answer to that lies in the causes of the problem.

Racial discrimination is clearly one. Here diversity training can be the carrot for businesses and investigation and prosecution of businesses which discriminate can be the stick. That is why the Human Rights Commission exists -- to expose discrimination of all kinds, but that is a notoriously difficult task.

There are other causes.

Education is one. Because the majority of the students in public schools are black, Bermuda will never have a diverse workforce from top to bottom until Government guarantees a public education system which is the equivalent of private schools. Until then, students from private schools will always have an advantage in the workforce.

For adults who wish to improve their educational standing now, Government and the private sector need to consider providing even more financial support than they do now. A GI Bill which gives support to those who want further education in return for public service, for example in the Bermuda Regiment or some other form of community service, would be one solution.

The fact that many of Bermuda's businesses are family-owned is another cause.

Advancement will often stay in the family, and as many of Bermuda's oldest and biggest companies are owned by white families, change at the top of these businesses can take years. But it can and does change if descendants of the founders prove to be inept, as newer and hungrier competitors emerge and as new business areas open up. Government and the financial sector need to ensure that financing and support for new businesses, black- and white-owned, is open to all. Finally, the nature of Bermuda's international business contributes to the domination of senior management by whites. International companies in Bermuda are, rightly, entitled to choose their own chief and senior executives; these are the people who tend to earn $200,000 per year or more.

That many of these senior managers -- most of them non-Bermudian -- are white should come as no surprise since financial services in the US and Europe tend to be white-dominated as well. Changing work permit requirements at that level would be nothing short of disastrous, so it is unlikely to happen.

Still, Bermudians, white and black, can and are reaching the top of the international business ladder. They need to spread the word on how they got there to others. The solutions to the problems raised by the CURE report are many and Government and CURE need to consider a multi-faceted approach to it.