Forum (1/19/2010): Racial and Ethnic Tensions

We have come a long way in the United States, but lingering racial and ethnic discrimination continues to strain the bonds that hold us together. It is time we set our minds to achieving Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream of true equality. How can we work to accomplish this?

Join the Russell Forum for Civic Life in Georgia, a civic engagement program of the Russell Library, for the third annual deliberative discussion of this tough question, tonight, January 19, 2010 from 6:00-8:00PM at the Russell Library. The program will use an issue guide developed by the National Issues Forums Institute to tackle this issue from three different perspectives, and to suggest varied approaches by which these problems might be addressed. Each approach offers a different diagnosis of what's wrong. Each provides a direction for public action. Each includes ideas and proposals that are drawn from across the political spectrum. For a closer look at the issue guide, click HERE.

Moderators for this program will be Melissa Shivers, Director of Intercultural Affairs for UGA and Jill Severn, Director of the Russell Forum for Civic Life in Georgia and head of Access and Outreach at the Russell Library at UGA. All opinions and ideas are welcome! Program is free and all are welcome. For more information, please call (706) 542-5788 or email jlevinso@uga.edu.

As a special side note...
Pat Priest, a steering committee member for the Russell Forum for Civic Life in Georgia, composed the following opinion piece on racial and ethnic tensions which appears in today's Athens Banner-Herald. Check it out here: http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/011910/opi_551687180.shtml