I don’t know if you guys attended the Race & Racism discussion on campus a couple of weeks back. If you didn’t you missed out, this event gave people of all colors and races a chance to speak their mind about race and racism around Georgia Southern and Statesboro. It is part of a series titled “Courageous Conversations” which is hosted by the multicultural student center on campus. If you’re thinking this was a run of the mill conversation, where people were afraid to speak their minds or were discouraged to do so that was the exact opposite of how it went down. Everything was raw, real and you couldn’t ignore the atmosphere in the room.
Led by Nathan Palmer and Dr. Breyan Haizlip they started off by letting everyone know that while you were encouraged to speak your mind that the questions and discussion were guided so that no one would get out of control. They introduced themselves and then right off the bat they got us squirming in our seats by delving right into the conversation with us. They would ask questions like “what is white culture?” “What is black culture?” people would raise their hands to get a chance to speak into the microphones. Sometimes when people were talking they would throw a fastball at them and ask something along the lines of “what’s the last racist thing you’ve done?” or “are you a racist?” some people well everyone mostly was caught off guard because you never knew when or if it was even coming. In the end, the event was an overall success and lots of people came out to hear their fellow students even some faculty was there, I can appreciate what the multicultural student center offered to the public. This was an open judgement free zone and it encouraged everyone to share their opinions and feelings without making them feel as if they were wrong. It was and amazing experience and I am glad to have had the chance to participate this year.