| 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
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