Credit: werthmedia via Flickr.
While the myth that we have achieved a post-racial society is becoming more widespread, Erase Racism’s “Race and Racism Dialogues” are still raising awareness about the many ways that racial disparities deeply affect people of color.
On July 12 , Erase Racism will host three brown bag sessions to discuss a very timely topic—the connection between racial bias and structural racism. With the recent death of Rodney King, Americans have asked if progress has been made since 1991, when King was beaten by four Los Angeles police officers. The videotaped beating brought public attention to racial tensions in the US. Some have compared the King beating to the recent killing of Trayvon Martin, in the sense that both tragic events revealed continuing racial bias in this country that is often ignored and, at worst, denied.
On Long Island, the spate of hate crimes against Latinos in the last decade is another example of racial bias in its most egregious form. In 2008, Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero was killed by a group teenagers looking to assault Latino immigrants.
The July 12 brown bag sessions will help to facilitate a conversation about how individual incidences of racial bias relate to structural racism on Long Island and in the nation at large. We will use this video (see below) as a catalyst for discussion, so please watch it before you come:
There will be three discussion sessions held on July 12, so that participants can choose the time that is most convenient for them. The first session will be at 8am, another will be at noon, and the final session will take place at 4pm. Each session will last an hour and a half. Erase Racism will supply coffee, tea, cookies, and muffins for the morning session. These are brown bag events, so please remember to bring your lunch and any other food you might want. All sessions will be held in Syosset at the Erase Racism office(6800 Jericho Turnpike, Suite 109W).
Click here to register for one of the sessions.
