During World Fest festivities on April 26, RWC faculty and students attended a Peace Conference in SAHB Room 100.
Dr. Gregory Williams, UC President, was the scheduled main speaker, along with Dr. Grace Auyang, RWC Professor of Sociology. Although President Williams was unable to attend the conference due to extenuating circumstances, the central ideas of his book “Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovers He was Black,” were presented and discussed at the conference.
The book discusses the hardships of being a black man in a white man’s body, and discussing the struggles that come with that mixed identity. His main points are categorized as follows:
Perseverance
Never give up hope
Dream big
Work every day on those dreams
Be committed to your goals (if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well)
Take the chance to be part of something bigger than yourself.
Here are some questions for everyone to think about in the context of race and peace:
What would be your response to suddenly learn that you were “colored” in the 1950’s and next in 2010?
What could you say about racism in the United States that hasn’t already been said many times before?
Is it too ambitious to look forward to the day when we will able to tell the government to stop being the watch dog for civil rights?
Is there some magic word that we are waiting on to be moved in our hearts as Americans to do what is right?
These were just some of the questions that the conference asked people to think about dealing with these issues and to move forward and progress with solutions for the future.