Forum: Better cultural bonds begin with talk
People championing the cause of building relationships among different cultures in the Northwest suburbs say the first step is getting people talking to each other without waiting to be asked.
That was one of the major themes of a regional human relations conference at the Woodfield Hyatt in Schaumburg Thursday, coordinated by the Illinois Commission on Diversity and Human Relations.
Other sponsors included the city of Elgin, the village of Streamwood, Sisters of the Living Word in Arlington Heights and Evanston-based Clark Consulting Group.
American society has long struggled with racism and various forms of segregation, the recent immigration debate has again turned up the intensity, organizers said.
"Within the circles I walk, I would say human relations are not getting better," said the Rev. Clyde Brooks, president of the commission.
"Fear is a word that must relate to human relations. Because of the immigration issue, we have people who are afraid to get involved, who are afraid to take advantage of what they're entitled to."
Brooks challenged local communities to reach out to their minority and immigrant populations and to give them more proportional representation on service agencies like police departments.
One way to encourage this more directly is through voter education to get more minority populations to the polls, Brooks said.
"It is nice to have festivals, it's nice to do all those cosmetic things, but you really don't get to know the people," Brooks said.
The keynote speaker of the conference was Carol Adams, secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services. She cited the hotbed of controversy that tiny Jena, La., has become as proof that the nation's race problems aren't behind it yet.
"That's not an isolated incident, that's just the one you heard about," Adams said. "If we really want to be about diversity, it's something we have to work at. You don't just get there and forget, you have to get there and stay vigilant."
There is a difference, she said, between desegregation and integration. A desegregated school is one that all people can legally attend, but that doesn't mean the student body is truly unified, she said.
All one has to do is look at a school cafeteria to see examples of "resegregation," Adams said.
Though Adams said she waited on the Clinton administration's promise to talk about race, it never did. The age-old advice of the nation is "Get over it," she said.
"America sometimes seems to have an attention-deficit disorder," Adams said. "We can only look at something so long and then we have to move on."
Brooks cited the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who believed the biggest obstacle to overcome America's race problems was not hate groups, but good-hearted people who choose to stay silent.
Thursday's audience consisted of municipal appointees, women's advocacy groups, clergy members and Democratic state Rep. Paul Froehlich of Schaumburg.
The audience broke into four groups of about eight members each to discuss solutions to current immigration and human relations issues.
"We're not here to tell you what you should be doing, but just to get you talking," Brooks said. "I'd be happy if we did nothing but talk, talk, talk."