With little faith that Bermuda's race issues can be ironed out by those who benefited or suffered under segregation, parents and teachers are looking to Bermuda's youth as the generation of hope.

"Traditions, reputations, and old habits die hard,'' said one 45-year-old parent who asked not to be named. "Too many of us carry a lot of emotional baggage. And the wounds are still raw. I hold out little hope that we can solve these (race) issues.'' His comments were echoed by other parents and teachers.

And while no parent and few teachers interviewed by The Royal Gazette were prepared to be identified, they spoke candidly and remained cautiously optimistic.

One white mother said she feared sending her children to a predominantly black school because of violence.

Another white parent said she did not want her child to feel "isolated or uncomfortable''.

And another said he believed that many parents wanted their children to attend their alma mater in keeping with tradition.

But one parent said she was grateful that her black father and white mother sent her to a predominantly black school because she learned to respect people of all races and was able to pass that on to her children.

"I've always taught my children from the time that they were very little that it does not matter who people are,'' she said. "I try to make them understand that people are people. There are good and bad in every colour. You have to accept people as you find them, unless they give you cause to think otherwise.'' "It's hard for me to understand whites' reasons for sending their children to predominantly white schools,'' the mother, who is married to a white man, added.

"If it is because they fear the child will be uncomfortable at a predominantly black school, I say since they (whites) are a minority anyway (in Bermuda) they should let their children get used to it.

"Our children have to learn to live together. The only way they are going to learn this is from when they are young.

"If we don't teach our children to be together in school so they can feel comfortable with different colours, how can we expect them in their adult life to do it?'' One mother summed up the general sentiment of most interviewed, when she stressed: "There's no place for racism in the world today. There are so many other things we need to be worrying about, rather than the colour of people's skin.

"As parents we have a responsibility to set a good example for our children.

"White parents and black parents need to get their act together and realise we are not doing our children any favours.'' And teenagers interviewed agreed.

Bermuda High School for Girls head girl Keisha Burgess, who is black, said she believed many prejudices held by black and white students were due to the influence of parents.

"Sometimes it's passed on when they teach their children to believe what they were brought up to believe on,'' Keisha said. "So that's why I think it is continuing down through generations.

"Parents have to let their children think for themselves and let them decide on what they would like to do.'' Keisha, who started at BHS in the first year of the senior school, admitted that initially she was uncomfortable about attending "a white school'' because she came from a majority black school.

"But it only took me about two months and I was comfortable,'' she said, adding that her parents were a positive influence.

"I don't even see colour in school,'' Keisha continued. "I just see friends.

That's the way I've grown in the school. I don't say she's black and she's white. Everyone is the same to me.'' The 16-year-old, who in an earlier interview with The Royal Gazette revealed that she would like to visit Africa and considered Oprah Winfrey as a role model, said attending BHS had changed her "for the better''.

"At first I thought I would never be able to get used to it (BHS),'' she said. "A lot of my friends changed. And I lost a lot of friends by coming to this school. But I've only gained better friends. And those who still are my friends are my true friends.'' Recalling racial incidents between her BHS friends and blacks from other schools, Keisha said: "They (white students) literally shake when we're around black people. A lot of my friends are really nervous around black people.'' This, Keisha added, was basically due to "fear of the unknown''.

"As I got to know my friends, one of them said to me `I never knew it would have been like this. You're so nice.

"By putting them (black and white students) together, they understand each other. If there were more schools that were mixed, it would be definitely better.'' Head of BHS' primary department Mrs. Lorna Anderson agreed.

"People should realise a lot of the white students are afraid to get close to the black students in Bermuda,'' Mrs. Anderson said. "It is only when they are together in a school that they can mix and get to know each other and get to know what they are like and see there aren't many differences and they can talk about it.

"But until we can get to that point, I think black students in Bermuda sometimes see the white students as trying to keep their distances and the white students are afraid.'' Keisha said she also believed that students from private and public schools needed to be encouraged to socialise more.

"We should be more involved with other schools, like through interschool sports. Public schools send the whole school there with the team, whereas BHS just send a team.

"We need to get out and get involved with other students and see what other students are like.'' BHS student Jenny Lapsley, in a Royal Gazette student profile, also said she would like to see improved relations with people of all races in Bermuda.

"There is conflict between all races,'' Jenny said. "If we can solve that, the community would be better as a whole.'' And Warwick Secondary fifth-year student Andrew Raynor, who also listed racism as the Island's main problem, said: "Society compares and segregates people.'' "But it's what's inside that counts,'' he added. "If you put your heart into something, it doesn't matter what colour you are and where you are from.''