On February 25, 2005 the YWCA of Racine hosted a Town Hall on Race entitled Race to Race / Face to Face. This day-long program brought together community members from all walks – corporate, non-profit, faith, government, and educational. The information included presentations on the History of Racism and on the State of People of Color in Racine in the following areas: Education, Jobs & Unemployme
nt, Economic Development, Healthcare, Housing, Politics, and Criminal Justice. That event made it very clear that the greater Racine community is not doing all it can to work against racism, and in fact needs to intentionally work to eliminate the barriers that prevent equal voice and access to the resources in this community. It also became clear that although many organizations and institutions are working on diversity and/or anti-racism as a part of their mission, there was not one organization whose sole mission is to work to eliminate racism. As a direct result of the the Town Hall on Race and in response to seeing a need to focus on the destructive powers of racism, a community-wide committee was formed. Dedicated community members came together to create The Committee to Eliminate Racism, which began meeting in April 2005. The committee created the following Mission and vision statements:
Mission: To actively challenge and eliminate racism in the greater Racine Community. Vision: To create a genuine inter-racial community where all people have equal voice and access to resources and opportunities. After assessing the Racine community and its stakeholders, the Committee to Eliminate Racism felt that the Coming Together Project would be a perfect fit for our community for the following reasons:
1. We look to make systemic changes vs. taking a band-aid approach to solving racial issues;
3. We desire to be membership driven;
4. We desire the same short- and long-term outcomes as the Coming Together Project;
5. We have a vested interest in eliminating racism; and
6. We feel we have local funding sources that can support the initiatives. In September 2005 the Committee to Eliminate Racism submitted a Grant Proposal and Application to become an affiliate of Coming Together Project, and in February 2006 was approved as Coming Together Racine. The roots of the Coming Together Project was a year-long series published in Akron, Ohio’s newspaper The Beacon Journal on race relations entitled “A Question of Color” in 1993. Even before the series was completed, dozens of community members & organizations offered their help in bridging the differences. The series of articles was awarded the 1994 Pulitzer Gold Medal for Meritorious Public Service. In Akron, more than 60 civic, social, religious, and educational organizatiosn joined together to participate in community improvement. In 1997 the Project gained national attention when President Bill Clinton visited Akron for the nation’s inauguration Town Hall meeting on race. The primary Goals of the Coming Together Project are:
Raise awareness of the Project in the community and beyond;
Educate community members on how to approach the issues of racism; and
Bring people together to foster awareness and appreciation of all cultures. The Committee to Eliminate Racism – now Coming Together Racine:
Believes in a community-wide approach in solving racial issues;
Looks to make systemic changes vs. taking a band-aid approach to solving racial issues;
Desires to be membership driven;
Has a vested interest in eliminating racism; and
Feels the community of greater Racine will support this initiative. Coming Together Racine will work to:
Promote racial harmony in the community
Educate community members on racism and its effects on people and the community
Bring people together to foster awareness and appreciation of people of all cultures
To achieve these goals the Committee will provide opportunities for members of the Racine community to dialogue, explore, learn, and strategize around racism.
