AUBURN - A pot luck supper at the Auburn Public Theater set the tone for Friday night's gathering of the Community Wide Dialogue, a group instituted to continue discussion and thinking about the variety of people living in and around Auburn.
The event began with supper, highlighted by speaker Beth Broadway, program director of Community Wide Dialogue to End Racism, a branch of InterFaith Works of Central New York.
Local organizer Imam Abdur-Rahim Muhammad welcomed the gathering of about 20 and described how he went through facilitator training for the program.
“By mid 2003 we had our own first dialogue group, many of whom went on to be facilitators,” Muhammad said. “Now people can express themselves in a positive way and the city is looked at as a more positive place because of Community Wide Dialogue, We've been able to stick together week in and week out and hash things out. We've been able to establish a standard of behavior.”
Once the group was seated in a circle, Broadway said that she and Muhammad would be going to eight other communities who want to end racism by using the dialogue mode.
“We are not a post racial society,” she said, “ but one that is really struggling with color.” She read from President Barack Obama's “Audacity of Hope,” citing a couple of incidents where he was treated differently because he was black - petty slights of security guards who were tailing him and white people who would toss him their keys, assuming he was a valet.
“That aint gonna happen (to Obama) again,” Broadway said.
She also referred to a passage where Obama underscored the need for vigilance in his household when his daughters are exposed to storylines about who the world thinks they are.
She focused on his statement, “Better isn't good enough.”
“That is who is leading our country and he's calling us to step up,” she said.
Her organization is compiling a 10-year benchmark study - “The Face of Races in 2009.” Issues will center around such indicators as health, education, representation, police and who's making decisions.
Broadway noted that many were kept from buying homes because of race, so they were also prevented from sending their children to college by taking a mortage out on the homes that they didn't have. The book will study the way that personal wealth got built and didn't.
“We've got to build alliances,” she said. “We didn't do as much coalition building as we should have.”
She added that dialogue generates moments of growth in the community and urged the participants to figure out what is keeping them from talking to friends.
“It's so much deeper than just talk,” she said.
Broadway told the group that they didn't have to stand up alone. Over the past 12 years in Syracuse 7,000 have participated in dialogues.
“The future is an infinite succession of presents,” she said. “I want you to join with our president in saying, better is not enough.”
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
Local organizer Imam Abdur-Rahim Muhammad welcomed the gathering of about 20 and described how he went through facilitator training for the program.
“By mid 2003 we had our own first dialogue group, many of whom went on to be facilitators,” Muhammad said. “Now people can express themselves in a positive way and the city is looked at as a more positive place because of Community Wide Dialogue, We've been able to stick together week in and week out and hash things out. We've been able to establish a standard of behavior.”
Once the group was seated in a circle, Broadway said that she and Muhammad would be going to eight other communities who want to end racism by using the dialogue mode.
“We are not a post racial society,” she said, “ but one that is really struggling with color.” She read from President Barack Obama's “Audacity of Hope,” citing a couple of incidents where he was treated differently because he was black - petty slights of security guards who were tailing him and white people who would toss him their keys, assuming he was a valet.
“That aint gonna happen (to Obama) again,” Broadway said.
She also referred to a passage where Obama underscored the need for vigilance in his household when his daughters are exposed to storylines about who the world thinks they are.
She focused on his statement, “Better isn't good enough.”
“That is who is leading our country and he's calling us to step up,” she said.
Her organization is compiling a 10-year benchmark study - “The Face of Races in 2009.” Issues will center around such indicators as health, education, representation, police and who's making decisions.
Broadway noted that many were kept from buying homes because of race, so they were also prevented from sending their children to college by taking a mortage out on the homes that they didn't have. The book will study the way that personal wealth got built and didn't.
“We've got to build alliances,” she said. “We didn't do as much coalition building as we should have.”
She added that dialogue generates moments of growth in the community and urged the participants to figure out what is keeping them from talking to friends.
“It's so much deeper than just talk,” she said.
Broadway told the group that they didn't have to stand up alone. Over the past 12 years in Syracuse 7,000 have participated in dialogues.
“The future is an infinite succession of presents,” she said. “I want you to join with our president in saying, better is not enough.”
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
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