Summit on racial issues to be held next month

The Charleston Gazette
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Summit on racial issues to be held next month
By Rachel Molenda, Staff writer

Conversations about race and racism in the United States often take place in the wake of incidents like the recent shooting of a black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri. Some West Virginians hope to have a quieter talk about those issues next month.

Ted Boettner, director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said talking about race outside of a time of crisis is “unique,” an idea he said was first pointed out by Rev. Ron English who is helping to organize the event.

“It feels like this is a settled time to really talk about this and have this experience,” Boettner said. “It’s different not having a conversation that is embedded in a current situation.”

West Virginia’s history with race is complex.

Boettner referred to a Gazette report earlier this year on the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, which noted that school segregation wasn’t removed from the state’s constitution until 1994 — 40 years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Brown vs. Board of Education. And even then, 42 percent of the state’s voters voted to keep the clause....

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