KBIA Local
(2009-11-19)
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COLUMBIA,MO
(KBIA) -
The series is called "Courageous Conversations about Race and Civility: A Dialogue for Everyone."
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On a rainy Thursday night last month, the buzz of open, and sometimes uncomfortable, conversation filled the Black Culture Center as about 70 people discussed issues of race.
Associate professor of Law David Mitchell, who participated in the panel discussion, says people need to understand race is not something that can be put into easy, cookie-cutter labels.
"Race is a daily part of who I am, of how I navigate this university, of how I navigate this town, this city, this country. You can't sort of look at it as being, 'Oh well, here's this objective academic theory or academic notion, and here's the other side. Well, for me they meet in the same person."
Columbia resident Carolyn Magnuson attended the discussion. She says oftentimes we don't realize some of the racial misconceptions ingrained in our society. She told a story about a question she heard a young boy ask his mother which really got her thinking.
"I was in a store and a young boy about four years old said to his mother very loudly, 'Mommy, is it really true Jesus was black?'"
Magnuson says that little boy entirely changed her outlook. She decided to do something about it and now every year around Christmas, she goes to stores and malls and asks if they have any nativity scenes or books which depict the actual race of Jesus. She says the responses she gets are far from comforting.
"I'm surprised, not surprised, no, I'm not surprised at all. But, I continue to be appalled that people look at me as though I'm crazy. 'He's white of course, don't you know? I mean we do, there he is right there."
Tonight's community dialogue is the third in a three-part series as part of the larger MU Difficult Dialogues program. The program is funded by the Ford Foundation. Chief Diversity Officer Roger Worthington says there are about 15 schools funded by the Ford Foundation to continue Difficult Dialogues across the country. Worthington says the discussion tonight will have more of a focus on community issues in Columbia.
"We felt it was a good time for us to bridge the town-gown gap and have a conversation about race and civility that really involved the broader Columbia community."
Mitchell says he wants to make clear that this series is not meant to be an end to race issues or discussions.
"To look at this as an end, to look at this three-part series as an end is ridiculous. This is merely the beginning. I think it's a constant conversation and as long as you get people to start to feel comfortable about it, then I think you've achieved the goal." © Copyright 2012, KBIA
