Race forum suggests changes to fix problem

by Alicia Petska

December 7, 2007 | The News & Advance | Lynchburg, Virginia

Vicky Bradley, a 39-year-old insurance broker, wanted to know if Lynchburg really did have a racism problem.

James Polk Jr., a 45-year-old veteran who’s traveled the world, wanted to share the benefit of his experience.

Harriet Whitten, a 70-year-old nonprofit administrator, wanted to do something to make Lynchburg a better city.

In the Community Dialogue on Race & Racism, a city-sponsored effort to promote openness and understanding, they each found what they were looking for.

“Once people got together, we started talking about our differences,” said Polk, a Lynchburg native who returned home after two decades in the Navy. “Then we started talking about how we can make things better.”

Whitten, who works at the Patrick Henry Boys & Girls Plantation, said she came out of the experience more aware of the impact our actions have.

“I really want to encourage a lot of people to get involved (with the dialogue),” she said. “So often, when there’s a problem, we want somebody else to do something. But we all are somebody.”

First conceived of earlier this year, the dialogue brought community members together in small “study circles” to discuss issues of race, as well as form suggestions on how to improve things locally. The first cycle, a small pilot program involving close to 60 people, concluded Thursday with a public forum aimed at addressing the nagging question of what comes next.

“I’ve felt, from the very beginning, that the potential for social change here is very significant,” reflected dialogue participant Shahriar Abbassi, a supervisor at the Randolph College library. “… I think it will certainly have an impact. I really could not see how it could not.”

On Thursday, during a public “action forum” at Lynchburg College that drew around 120 people, the dialogue’s various study circles presented a total of 10 suggestions, which were then pared to the following final five:

• Develop regular community forums within each of the voting wards

• Implement diversity training and personal development programs for children in Lynchburg’s public schools

• Create a public commission to mediate racial crises

• Promote community policing, including the formation of neighborhood watches and community associations

• Recruit others to participate in future study circles

Each of those picks, which were voted on by the crowd that night, will now be assigned to different committees that will head up their implementation.

Despite the magnitude of some of the tasks, city leaders, who initiated the dialogue program, said they had confidence results would be seen.

“This trial has already created a lot of dialogue and a lot of energy,” said Mayor Joan Foster, who plans to take part in the full-fledged program that will kick off next month. “… This, to me, signals loud and clear there’s going to be follow through.”

More than 400 people have already signed up to participate in the next round of study circles, which will meet once a week for six weeks starting in February. For more information on the program, visit www.ManyVoices

OneCommunity.com or call (434) 455-4208.

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Learn more: Racial Equity