Community race relations was the topic of a 2-hour Town Hall meeting Thurs. on Peoria's Public Television station.
More than 50 members of the Peoria and Bloomington/Normal Communities participated. Long-time civil rights advocate Ernestine Jackson says such race relations conversations have no value, unless people are also considering their attitudes and thinking:
“To really eye into what is really wrong with this whole issue of discrimination, racism, intolerance of race, sex, color, creed, national origin, because unless you deal with the really core, nothing is going to change,” Jackson said.
Some of the topics of the race relations town hall meeting centered on equality in education, police and fire department minority hiring practices with residency requirements, and job and business opportunities.
Laraine Bryson, long-time President of the Tri-County Urban League and a former EEOC attorney says such community conversations help combat against people painting with a broad brush:
“So I think that if we look at people as an individual and get to know the individual, that breaks down some of those barriers and this is a beginning point right here, by coming together,” Bryson said.