Race dialogue draws record attendance

Lynchburg’s Community Dialogue on Race and Racism has drawn record attendance, according to one national group helping coordinate the program.

The citywide talks, aimed at improving race relations, have drawn a little more than 500 participants and more than 100 volunteer facilitators. That’s the most ever seen by Everyday Democracy, a Connecticut-based group that’s worked on similar efforts with hundreds of communities across the country.

“Lynchburg has the distinction of having recruited more people in a single round (of talks) than we’ve ever seen in our almost 18 years of history,“ program liaison Molly Barrett said.

Barrett, who’s based in Maine, has worked closely with Lynchburg officials to coordinate the local dialogue. Earlier this year, Everyday Democracy (formerly the Study Circles Resource Center) awarded Lynchburg one of eight national grants that gives the city access to extensive support services, including facilitator training and spots at a national conference where they can share ideas with other communities running similar discussion forums.

According to its Web site, Everyday Democracy has worked with more than 550 localities nationwide to establish programs that address social inequities. The organization, which bases its work on the “study” or dialogue circle format, is funded by a private foundation.

Barrett, who visited Lynchburg last year to meet with dialogue organizers, credited the local program’s success to the “grassroots energy and commitment” of the people involved.

“It certainly gives me hope,“ she said. “When people mumble and grumble about the state we’re in - and we certainly have some problems - I wish they could go to places like Lynchburg and see what everyday people can accomplish.“

Under the local dialogue, a total of 60 small study circles have been meeting weekly since early February. That effort will wrap up March 14 with each group offering suggestions for implementing change in the community.

A public forum will be held afterward to select a final list of recommendations, which will then be implemented by community volunteers. The forum will be held in April over the course of several days due to the number of participants, said assistant coordinator Leslie King.

“We’re pretty excited,“ she said. “They (dialogue participants) know there’s going to be more than talk, there’s going to be action. ? Their ideas won’t just be ideas. They’ll see something come out of it.“

King said she felt the dialogue’s success was due to the fact it was a community, not purely a government program. The Community Dialogue on Race and Racism was initiated by the city last year, partly due to the 2006 death of Clarence Beard Jr., a black man who died during a struggle with two white police officers.

A pilot program involving close to 60 people was held last fall. Ideas that emerged from that included holding regular forums within each of Lynchburg’s four voting wards and starting a sort of human rights commission that could help arbitrate controversies. Committees formed around those recommendations are currently organizing, King said.

A second round of full-fledged talks is not planned, but may occur if there is sufficient public interest, she added. Dialogue organizers are now focused on the wrap-up forum, however, and helping volunteers implement the final list of suggestions.

“This is the part where we have to do more than talk,“ King said. “And it will take some time. We didn’t get into this situation overnight.“