sees itself as the multi-racial party, the PLP warns voters not to be fooled.

Deidre Stark reports To an outsider Bermuda might appear to be a racial paradise.

Few countries can boast a black Premier and Opposition Leader to complement so many others at the forefront of their professions.

Only this weekend Human Rights Commission executive officer Kenneth Dill said Bermuda had some of the world's toughest and most effective legislation to combat discrimination.

While calling on Bermudians to remain vigilant, he said the HRC had made a real difference by investigating 4,265 complaints.

Human Affairs Minister Jerome Dill was quick to claim credit yesterday: "I don't want to blow my own trumpet but over the past five years I have worked tirelessly towards this and I'm proud of it.'' And his Ministry's list of achievements to stamp out racism is very impressive.

But sit in Magistrates' Court any morning and watch the queue of black youths paraded in on petty charges involving drugs, driving, theft or alcohol.

Or consider the most recent study -- the Newman Report issued in November, 1994 -- which found that among administrative or managerial workers a black college graduate on average earns less than a white person without even a high-school certificate.

And the average black household had an income of $44,412 -- more than $10,000 less than the $55,440 taken home each year in white households. Racial inequality would appear to lie at the heart of these problems.

And as November 9 looms less than a week away both major parties are desperate to win the race card, particularly since political observers say a floating 12 to 13 percent of black voters tend to decide elections.

Indeed 19 of the 20 political constituencies have a black voting majority.

Opposition spokesman on race relations Ewart Brown warned voters not to be fooled by the number of black candidates "seduced'' into joining the United Bermuda Party.

"While we in Bermuda claim to be at the Ph.D. level in e-commerce, sadly we are only in the preschool level of race relations,'' he said. "Many UBP members still believe the way to solve this problem is to invite black people to cocktails.

"They believe black faces in high places means racism no longer exists but placing people in government isn't always a significant fundamental change.'' He said because some UBP members did not accept racism was a major issue, their policies reflected that.

"Even the Premier doesn't have any real power -- just delegated authority. As long as she remains non-white in this society, she is quite powerless.'' He said if Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith won the Premier's hot seat on Monday the Progressive Labour Party would "chip away'' at racism.

That process would begin with every schoolchild learning their "true history'' rather than that slavery was the beginning of black heritage.

The PLP would also give more power to bodies charged with fighting racism and force banks and other institutions to remove "racist contamination'' that had crept in.

He said in the past five years the UBP had passed "cosmetic'' laws to make "name-calling'' a punishable crime but the Code of Practice it drafted to address racism at work only gently discouraged it.

And the Human Rights Commission had been ineffective in bringing change: "I don't know of a single case where any institution has had to pay a large penalty for racist policies.'' He pointed to a large company in the US where executives were recently forced to pay around $500 million after they were found to be following racist corporate policies.

"In Bermuda, that kind of conduct would have no legal repercussions. This must be one of the last countries on the planet which is trying only to encourage people to stop practising racism.

"Most countries have gone beyond asking and moved into the legislative arena where people are now paying for practising racism.'' But Human Affairs Minister Jerome Dill warned voters not to be scared into voting for the PLP. He is confident Bermuda is on the road to becoming one of the first countries in the world to achieve true racial harmony.

"Yes, the government acknowledges racism is a real problem, but we (the UBP) have made every effort to accept and change that.

"Compare our visionary approach with the anti-UBP flyer circulated with nasty talk about the Premier and the Tourism Minister or the subversive door-knocking campaign in some areas to scare black families into voting PLP.'' The Opposition's "dirty tricks'' revealed a lot about their stance on race issues, he said.

"In the run up to every election the Opposition bangs away on the issue of race but at the same time it's stolen all the prongs of our approach.'' The UBP preferred the tack of running an ad quoting one of Nelson Mandela's colleagues praising Bermuda for its racial harmony.

"Here is a man who knows discrimination, has experienced its oppression. We have to be encouraged by his opinion that other nations should be envious of the country we live in.

"When you listen to the criticisms of certain individuals it is easy to forget what we have achieved. For example there are no racially motivated killings.'' While each year in London there were several such murders, he said. Mr. Dill denied the HRC could be labelled a toothless tiger since amendments two years ago granted it extra powers and new equal pay amendments were passed this year.

"That suggestion is now particularly hollow. There are provisions for fines of up to $25,000,'' he said.

He described the Code of Practice for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Employment, that he was responsible for drafting last year, as a statutory tool to help stop racism.

But he admitted that the Code -- drafted after consultation with unions and employer groups -- was simply a guideline and never made legally-binding.

Such voluntary codes were a "long tradition'' in Bermudian labour relations and neither unions nor employers had wanted that to change, he said.

Mr. Dill was confident that voters would see the UBP was attempting to unite Bermuda compared with the Opposition's ploy to divide it.

"The majority of the UBP cabinet is black, headed by a black Premier and Deputy Premier. We have a multi-racial slate of candidates.

"Compare that with the PLP which has two white people who they are putting forward Island-wide. So which of us is making a genuine effort? "Our goal is to have a united Bermuda become a society without racial problems.'' Jerome Dill Ewart Brown