There is plenty of evidence that large segments of our community are excluded from full participation in our society because of racial discrimination. While much progress has been
made since the beginning of the civil rights movement, many people in California experience racism every day. The Center for the Common Good (CGC), a nonprofit based in Oakland, California, is taking a multi-faceted approach
to promoting an environment that values cultural pluralism and fosters consensus building in public policy.Whether called social capital, a strong civic infrastructure, or a network of community bridge builders, the importance
of relationship-building as the basis for coordinated action has been well-documented. Since 1994 the CGC has been working with a variety of community agencies--county task forces, school boards, local government agencies, city
commissions, regional collaboratives that confirms the need to nurture such relationships. Only with assistance can they endure the inevitable frustrations and achieve ends worthy of celebration. New initiatives are in
the works, including a series of high-level roundtable discussions on race among leaders in specific sectors (business, local government, and public education), and a regional conference on the future of the Bay Area. More
than "just talk," these efforts are intended to produce a commitment to action with tangible benefits that help bridge the fault lines in our communities.
A recent example is a project completed in late 1997 in the
island community of Alameda. "Building Bridges for a Multicultural Community," conducted in partnership with the Coalition of Alamedans for Racial Equality and funded jointly by Mervyn's and the Levi Strauss Foundation,
engaged a cross-section of Alameda citizens in a series of discussions on racism, race relations and the creation of multicultural alliances.
About fifty adults and fifty high-school students gathered at a kick-off dinner to
receive detailed information about the project, to meet each other as participants. For the next six weeks, they met in caucus groups defined by age, ethnicity and race: young and adult African-American, Asian-America,
Latino, Multicultural and European-American/White. Except for the latter group, the overwhelming consensus was that meeting in race-specific groups provided a rare opportunity to connect with others of similar backgrounds as
well as to discuss and validate experiences shared by those in their particular group.
The conference produced a list of twelve Priority Recommendations. Examples include advocating for the hiring of teachers and
administrators of color, sponsoring a community-wide multicultural event or fair,
establishing a multicultural center in Alameda, and developing a community newsletter to report and analyze racial issues in Alameda. Some of
the participants in the project have joined together to follow-up on these recommendations.
In addition to the specific recommendations, the caucus groups summarized their discussions about race, and the comments illustrate the
varied experiences within different racial and age groups. Some brief examples: for African-American adults, negative encounters with police or teachers were so universal that those experiences could almost be
sanctioned as rites of passage; African-American youth felt overt discrimination by potential employers; Asian American adults expressed resentment toward the
oft-assigned label "model minority;" Asian-American youth felt singled
out at school because of their physical appearance; Latino adults felt language was the most foreboding barrier separating them from those of other ethnic groups; Latino youth felt largely ignored by white educators who expressed
little confidence in their academic potential; multicultural adults and youth felt torn between one or more racial identities; European-American/White adults recalled childhood memories that involved neighborhoods or friendships
that were "forbidden;" European-American/White youth often felt ostracized when attempting to interact with students of color.
At the conclusion of the project, many participants expressed feeling a sense of "real
community" for the very first time. Meeting and working with others across societal-imposed racial and cultural boundaries provided an opportunity for participants to learn and understand the issues facing citizens of
dissimilar backgrounds. In a sense, new, more inclusive communities were created in an effort to foster an atmosphere of greater good.
It is difficult to do justice to the deep emotions and insights of this project in this
short article. The full text of the report is available online at the Center's web site: www.commongood.org. The Center can be
contacted at 384 Embarcadero West, Suite 200, Oakland, CA 94607 or call (510)
444-7774 ext. 124.
