The National Dialogue, an Extension of Colorado Conversations

Community Leaders Convene for a Dialogue about Racial Equality in Denver

Thursday, July 11th - The American Assembly and the National Civic League co-hosted a successful kickoff event of the Assembly's National Dialogue, an initiative to build more united communities across the country. The kick off event utilized the structure of the Colorado Conversations dialogue series and Denver citizens and community leaders came together to discuss racial equality and develop solutions for local action.

National race expert Judith Winston, former executive director of President Clinton's Initiative on Race, shared her insight and knowledge of the difficulty in addressing racial problems. Driving the theme the "Power of One," she offered her perspective on the difference one person can make. "In order to initiate change," said Winston, "it must be addressed community by community, table by table, and person by person. By multiplying it out, the power of one can truly turn into a national effort."

Chris Gates, National Civic League President, moderated the discussion, guiding participants to focus on ideas and opportunities for solutions. "Race is one of the most difficult issues for people to deal with," said Gates. "True change is only possible through this type of community dialogue."

Results and Recommendations

Having participated in previous discussions through National Civic League's Colorado Conversations earlier this year, participants were ready to begin discussing ideas and offering possible solutions for positive change. The following recommended actions were made by the various community leaders and participants:

• Race needs to be included as part of actual issues, even those that do not appear to involve race. A "no dancing around the issue" approach needs to be taken when dealing with Denver's policy issues, such as the English-only initiative.
• The importance and development of youth programs needs to be a high priority. Training of school administrators, and the awareness and support of various racial programs needs to be more prevalent.
• Local officials need to be held accountable for their actions and support discussions that address Denver's diversity. Leadership is needed in Denver to carry on the race dialogue in the community.
• Dialogues with the media need to be a priority. As one of the primary mediums for education and dissemination of information, the media need to eliminate racial stereotyping and make a conscious effort to diversify their reporting of issues that often reflect racial misconceptions.
• Denver's business community needs to be a leader in encouraging dialogues. Business policies and practices need to be implemented to support diversity. A metro-wide Chamber summit bringing together various ethnic and women's Chambers should be held to help unite these leaders around an issue.
• Technology should be utilized to break down barriers through increased dissemination of information and knowledge. A source Web site should be created, acting as a "race relations" Web site for businesses, citizens, organizations and government representatives to download educational materials, research diversity education programs and develop employment and recruitment opportunities.
• Denver needs to sponsor more local dialogues that are representative of diversity within the community. By bringing to the table all points-of-view, we can better recognize the uniqueness of individuals within groups.

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