Northwest suburban leaders meet to discuss race relations

A group of 40 government, law enforcement, civic and religious leaders met in Arlington Heights Thursday to discuss race relations at an event co-sponsored by the Illinois Commission on Diversity and Human Relations and the Sisters of the Living Word.

"In light of the violence occurring in Chicago, we're taking a proactive stance," Sisters of the Living Word Congregational Leader Kristine Vorenkamp said of the event.

Illinois Commission on Diversity and Human Relations Chairman the Rev. Clyde Brooks attended the workshop event.

"I know that when I talk, my color precedes my words," he said. "We all know there's only one race. We're all homo sapiens."

Vorenkamp said the goal for the day was to have an "honest and open" discussion about race.

Eileen Hogan Heineman, co-director of the Evanston/North Shore YWCA Racial Justice Program, facilitated the workshop.

"It's hard to have discussions on race," she said. "For me as a white woman, race isn't the way I usually think to describe myself. But for others, race is the first way they describe themselves."