A journey toward achieving racial equity

by Barbara Yancey

April 8, 2008 | | Macon, Georgia

Originally submitted on Mar.25, 2008

“At 6:30 p.m. this evening, we concluded the first phase of our journey toward removing racism as an impediment to the economic, political, social and educational progress in Central Georgia. How? By creating a climate of trust, respect, knowledge and awareness among more than 100 participants and 30 facilitators engaged in a dialogue-to-change program hosted by the Center for Racial Understanding of Macon, Ga.

“In February 2008, we launched study circles (our dialogue-to-change effort) involving all kinds of people from different ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, regions of the city and county, and cultural and religious persuasion.

“Our new mayor, Robert A. B. Reichert, has strongly supported the effort (he led his mayoral campaign on the slogan, "Together We Can") and is an integral part of process—from the dialogues to the action forum. Representatives of his office and many city council members also supported the program by serving as facilitators in the dialogues.

“Enthusiasm in Macon continues to mount as we now begin to design the action and change phase. More and more people are joining the effort, including many of our program’s participants and facilitators. And while we’re launching work to act on ideas from the program, many of the dialogue participants are continuing to meet. They formed lasting relationships in their dialogues and want to continue to tackle the tough issue of racism together.

“The Center for Racial Understanding is overseeing work on three action categories identified by the program’s participants:

• Personal awareness—Encourage residents and program participants to submit letters to the Macon Telegraph promoting positive views of the community. The community will be challenged to become more personally responsible for addressing racism and will be invited to take part in a racially diverse dinner club.
• Public engagement—Create a community-wide Sunday to give people the opportunity to visit a church of a differing racial make-up.
• Institutional barriers – Form a committee made up of participants from the dialogue-to-change program to meet with the Board of Education to address problems facing our school district. The committee will help educate the community and board on racial barriers to student achievement and encourage them and elected officials to embrace a plan aimed at removing such barriers.

“We are indebted to Everyday Democracy for their tried-and-true resources which are built upon the knowledge and experience of other cities and municipalities. We’re especially thankful to Everyday Democracy senior associates Jon Abercrombie, Gwen Whiting and community assistance associate Nick Connell. We are appreciative for their guidance, support and invaluable assistance.”

Learn more: Racial Equity