Bermuda's distribution of wealth remains top-heavy in favour of whites and the attitudes of some white Bermudians reflect a commitment to white supremacy, a race expert has claimed.

American Professor Robert Jensen, co-facilitator of Government's Bermuda Race Relations Initiative (BRRI), is no stranger to controversy — having authored numerous contentious publications on the subject of racial affairs in the United States since the 1980s.

When asked about the state of race relations in modern Bermuda, Dr. Jensen, who is white, said the Island differs from the United States in its structures but still supports racial inequalities.

A highly-regarded professor of journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Jensen was contacted by Premier Ewart Brown in 2006, to take part in the BRRI after Dr. Brown read some of his publications online.

"The United States has a white majority and the major institutions, political and economic, are in the hands of white people," he said.

"When examining the distribution of wealth and power and the underlying racial ideology, it is clear to me that the US is still a white-supremacist society.

"This is even with the significant gains of the civil-rights movement in the last half of the 20th century.

"Is Bermuda a white-supremacist society? That's obviously a more complex question in a country with a black majority and a black-led government, the distribution of wealth remains racialised, however. And the attitudes of at least some white Bermudians reflect a commitment to white supremacy.

"As an outsider, I don't think my job is to answer that question but to raise questions that can help Bermudians understand their own society."

Since the BRRI started in March, Dr. Jensen along with Dr. Bernestine Singley, a black American lawyer, also regarded as an expert on race issues, have been pounding Bermuda's pavement in search of solutions.

Dr. Brown devised the BRRI, with the support of the Cabinet Office and the Community for Unity and Racial Equality (CURE), and its forums are held once a month and will run until November.

However, it's too early to judge the effectiveness of the campaign, Dr. Jensen warned. And, he said, it is a process that should not be critiqued hastily.

"In a sense, I think it's too early to judge the effectiveness, in the sense that we're in the middle of a process that began in March that goes through until November," he said. "Very consciously, Dr. Singley and I think of this as an ongoing process, not one that can be judged as an instance.

"Beyond that, the real success or failure of this initiative will be judged in the future in terms of what contribution is made to Bermuda's ability to achieve a more just society. Also, with race relations, you're also dealing with emotions and these are not purely abstract issues that people are arguing about, this is very much woven into the fabric of our lives."