Bermuda will experience "social unrest and serious violence'' if nothing is done to stamp out institutionalised racism.

Princeton professor Dr. Carol Swain, who recently completed an extensive study on institutionalised racism in Bermuda, sounded this warning yesterday to some 50 representatives of the business community, educators, politicians, and members of the Press at Astwood Hall.

Brought in by the Bank of N.T. Butterfield 20 years after the late Dr. Kenneth Clark carried out a study on racism in Bermuda, Dr. Swain was recommended by Dr. Clark as a "very good person'' to carry out such a review, bank chairman Sir David Gibbons said.

And no stranger to the Island after visiting several times to conduct research and interviews with people from all sectors of the community, Dr. Swain, who is black, said: "Bermuda is in a situation much like the US was at one time during the sixties. When it started to address the most problems, it had the most unrest.'' She said the US was paying the price for not doing "a whole lot'' to address the problems.

"You can avoid the worst of what we have experienced.'' In order to complete her study, Dr. Swain said she and her research associate Dr. Russ Nieli gathered information from historical documents and public opinion polls carried out by consultants Penn and Schoen.

They also interviewed some 60 people, including the Premier, Government and Opposition members, Bermuda Industrial Union president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons, educator and National Association of Reconciliation co-founder Dr. Eva Hodgson, various chief executive officers, and at least one clergyman.

"Virtually everyone agreed that hiring in Bermuda was highly stacked in favour of white males of English descent who had close ties with owners of large firms,'' Dr. Swain said.

Blacks and women surveyed, in general, said they did not believe they were taken seriously by employers.

Dividing the sentiments of the blacks surveyed into three categories, Dr.

Swain said there were despairing pessimists, wait-and-see sceptics, and the hopeful optimists.

"The most pessimistic were people who were PLP supporters and felt they were excluded from the inner workings of Bermuda society,'' Dr. Swain said.

"The wait-and-see sceptics were those who believed there were problems with racial discrimination and hiring, but acknowledged that there was some progress being made.

"The hopeful optimists basically say discrimination is a thing of the past.

They see education as the major impediment to people in Bermuda. They felt public schools were especially failing black males.'' While Dr. Swain said she initially made some recommendations about Bermuda's education system, she did not share them yesterday.

"We felt that it was an area we needed to interview people at the Ministry of Education and teachers about so we're not prepared to talk about it,'' she said.

However, she shared her 15 recommendations on combatting institutionalised racism, and particularly the glass ceiling in relation to blacks and women.

They included: Setting up diversity awareness seminars in companies to allow employees "from the CEO down'' to learn about other cultures; Structuring career development plans for employees; Creating more scholarships for those in need of financial assistance; Experimenting with corporate day care centres; Diversifying corporate boards to include more blacks, Portuguese, and women; Creating a national overseas registry so that Bermudians living overseas can be considered when there are job openings and given the same allowances as foreign nationals; Diversifying the "expat'' pool to include blacks from the Caribbean, America, and Africa in hopes of better integrating local and foreign workers; and Setting up more flexible job recruiting standards.

However, Dr. Swain said she was against affirmative action.

Swain's warning "It does not work,'' she said, adding that it only created unnecessary bitter feelings and basically used minorities as scapegoats. Dr. Swain said she also recognised that the recommendations could not be implemented overnight.

But, she added, people in Bermuda must find a way to work together and put in place mechanisms to eradicate racism.

"It is of utmost urgency for businesses and Government to work together to stave off growing unrest and dissatisfaction we found in our interviews with people,'' Dr. Swain said.

Sir David promised that "the matter will be pursued''. The Bank of Bermuda had also agreed to call together a number of "major'' employers "to see if we can develop sufficient support to have these recommendations addressed'', he said.