Many positive efforts are taking place around our country to promote good
race relations. Dialogue is one powerful tool to this end. Below are
several examples of positive results achieved through dialogue and other
efforts.
In Lima, Ohio... a mayor concerned about racial tensions in his
community brought together area ministers to talk about organizing a
dialogue. Two churches agreed to start a unifying process by holding a
study circle, with help from the local college in training discussion
leaders. Four years later, more than 100 organizations, including 62
religious congregations and over 3,000 people, are involved. Results
range from volunteer efforts, like a multiracial unity choir, to
community wide collaborations on violence prevention and a city-wide plan
for hiring people of color
In Buffalo, New York . . . a series of highly publicized
dialogues took place with students and educators from a wide band of
cultural, racial, and ethnic communities. The dialogues involved
students from six city schools and six suburban schools. Over the course
of a school year, representatives from each of the 12 schools came
together to discuss issues related to race, ethnicity, faith, and
culture. Students now function as peer trainers, taking the lessons
learned to their respective peers and recruiting the next round of
participants. The dialogue and action plan focus on understanding and
valuing differences within schools, and on identifying and teaching
strategies for understanding and valuing diversity across school and
community boundaries.
In Richmond, Virginia... a citizens group inspired its political
and business leaders to host "an honest conversation on race,
reconciliation and responsibility" At this event, residents came together
to "walk through" their different racial histories.... High school
teachers and counselors responded to their students' request for dialogue
and offered their support as discussion leaders. Students from public
and private schools, the inner city, and affluent suburbs signed up.
These young people-normally separated by race, income, and
geography-would meet once a week for six weeks at different locations in
and around the city... A couple invited a diverse group of friends to a
pot-luck dinner at their home to talk about racial healing. More than 40
people showed up. It was so successful that the group decided to meet
monthly, each time in a different home. They invited the police chief, a
county supervisor, a newspaper editor, and other local leaders to take
part as informal guest speakers.
In Orlando, Florida . . . a town meeting, telecast live by a PBS
affiliate, focused on questions of immigration and community-a volatile
issue causing deep divisions among people there. It was attended by
business leaders and average citizens of all ethnic, gender, age,
religious, cultural, and political groups in Central Florida. The
meeting prompted more than 200 Central Floridians to participate in
concurrent "home dialogues," where groups of 5-10 individuals meet
face-to-face on the same day to discuss the challenges of race, culture,
and ethnicity in their lives. The number of people wishing to
participate in home dialogues has increased to more than 300.
In Des Moines, Iowa... leaders from various communities and faiths
gathered for serious discussion and debate on issues of concern to
residents. Subsequent conversations explored these and other issues,
such as the effect of corporate downsizing on race relations in Des
Moines. Each of the conversations involved community residents,
students, and other civic leaders. The dialogues prompted specific
actions-participants are exploring potential projects on which a
coalition of individuals and organizations could work. Building on the
interest and excitement generated by the dialogue series, ongoing, more
clearly focused dialogues identified common ground, common concerns,
common values, and resulted in a redefinition of community
