WHITE men and black women are the main beneficiaries of the modern Bermuda economy while black men continue being marginalised, according to political activist Rolfe Commissiong.

And he has appealed to leaders of the ruling Progressive Labour Party for a Government commission to establish the root causes of why black men felt "alienated".

The scenes of violence at Wellington Oval last month represented the "thin end of the wedge", said Mr. Commissiong, and highlighted a deep-seated problem that the country had yet to address.

"We don't see this type of behaviour from young Anglo-Saxon males in Bermuda, not from Portuguese-Bermudians ? it's just happening with young black males," Mr. Commissiong said.

"We need a Government commission to find out why and to be set up with a focus on this particular subject group in our society."

One reason for black males' sense of marginalisation was that, as a group, they were not getting the benefits that others were from the booming international business sector, said Mr. Commissiong.

"Look at Hamilton, it's a major seat of commerce in the 21st-century economy," he said. "But essentially it's a city of white men and black women.

"If you want a healthy society, you need to have a healthier balance. For that to be achieved, you can't afford to have significant numbers of black men not playing intrinsic and substantial roles at all levels of society.

"This is the kind of thing that is fuelling growing discontent."

The economy had dramatically changed over the years, particularly with the demise of the tourism industry and the restructuring of the construction industry with less influence being exercised by trade unions. And these changes had pushed black males farther into the margins.

Another problem that had primarily affected black males was Aids.

"Aids hit the black male population of my generation," Mr. Commissiong said. "Drug users were sharing needles and many families ended up losing two sons ? one family I know lost three sons."

He added that the recent comments of Sir John Swan, who admitted that he and past United Bermuda Party governments should take some of the blame for not sufficiently pushing the interests of black males, had been helpful.

Alienation occasionally surfaced in highly publicised ways, Mr. Commissiong added, such as in the murders of Shaundae Jones in Dockyard and Tekle Mallory outside the Ice Queen in Paget, and in recent violence at football matches at Wellington Oval and Devonshire Rec.

"Each time something like that happens, there is a lot of hand-wringing and you get the customary responses from political leaders as if it's the first time it's happened," Mr. Commissiong said.

"Soon afterwards people think the courts are dealing with the problem and they return to their comfort zones. That is dealing with the problem at the back end. But we need to deal with it at the front end.

"If you asked 50 or 60 people why these things were happening, they'd probably come up with 30 different reasons. A common problem is that people misidentify symptoms as causes.

"That's why we need a commission to narrow the whole phenomenon down to four or five major causes and to offer other contributory factors.

"The commission would listen to what members of the community have to say and would have a role to play in finding out how we can effectively move forward."

Mr. Commissiong said Government had held conferences on Women in Public Life but not the on the issue of the needs of black males, "the most vulnerable and at-risk group in our society".

Other public inquiries had touched on some societal problems, including the Pitt Commission,which examined the workings of Bermuda society following the 1977 riots, the Tumim Report and the Archibald Report, but none had focused primarily on black males' plight.

Mr. Commissiong has put forward his idea for a commission to the PLP Central Committee and has had support from some members of the Cabinet.

"I am hopeful that the Premier and the Government will rise to the challenge," he said.