A mixed crowd of nearly 100 people packed St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church last night to witness American anti-racism expert Tim Wise speak at his final engagement on the Island.

During the past few days Mr. Wise, who is white, has been holding a series of workshops and forums for business, churches and community leaders and the public, to help tackle racism in Bermuda.

Mr. Wise is a leading writer and author who has been a guest on TV and radio stations worldwide and received the thanks of Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu for his anti-apartheid work.

His visit was organised by Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda (CURB) and it marks his second visit.

Last night's forum was titled, "Community Dialogue: Understanding Racism Together," which drew a balanced crowd of blacks and whites.

While speaking of countries that have historically had a "race issue" such as the United States, South Africa and Australia, he hailed South Africa as the most conciliatory country in the world.

One suggestion Mr. Wise made during the open discussions, which received widespread praise, was that expats entering Bermuda for the first time should have to take part in race seminars before being employed.

He also added: "There's a difference between whites being in their skin and being of their skin – we are not incapable of moving in another direction."

One Bermudian spectator, Ogundokun Awolala, 41, who is black and works as a contracting foreman, believed an American, especially white, was not qualified to consult Bermudians on matters of race.

"It is a waste of time to have someone come here from America because it just adds fuel to the fire," he told The Royal Gazette.

"These discussions need to be more open forums as opposed to lecturers where the intellect speak all of the time.

"The first thing I saw when I walked in tonight was a white person telling black people what to do – all over again.

"The question really is how bad racism is in Bermuda. In America racism is a cancer, in Bermuda it's just the flu. In America you have people shooting each other.

"It was blacks who murdered Rebecca Middleton… so what are hate crimes in Bermuda? It's being committed by black people – America is different."

Lynne Windfield, President of CURB, publicly asked Mr. Wise to address beliefs by some whites that the mere discussion of a race problem only serves to further divide the community.

Mr. Wise responded with this analogy: "Slave owners were shocked that slaves ran away once emancipated, they were shocked if you look back at that period in time.

"Some of them felt, 'My God! They actually ran away!' That's what happens when you don't talk for hundreds of years." He stated he believed it's time for whites to stop running from issues of racism and proactively deal with them.