For Immediate Release: 4/8/2015 2:29 pm
Worcester, MA (April 8, 2015) - Worcester Mayor Joseph M. Petty and City Manager Edward M. Augustus have asked the City Manager’s Community Coalition against Bias and Hate to work with the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service to conduct a series of community discussions on race this spring in Worcester.
“These conversations will build upon the recent work and initiatives, like the Division of Public Health Community Health Improvement Plan and Youth Violence Taskforce,” said Mayor Petty. “We need to address the barriers that stand in the way of effective and respectful communication and engagement of members of our diverse city.”
The facilitated sessions will attempt to address issues affecting Worcester in five categories: youth and education, public safety, media and online social networks, representative government and economic development. The series will conclude with reports on each of the five sessions, evaluation, and plan for how the community will carry the conversations forward.
The dates and locations for the sessions, along with an open invitation for community participation, will be released Friday April 24th during the annual Stand Against Racism event, hosted by the YWCA of Central Massachusetts.
Mayor Joseph M. Petty and City Manager Edward Augustus expressed their support and appreciation to the Coalition and the DOJ.
“Conversations about race are difficult, but they are important,” said City Manager Augustus. “Too often we don’t know where to start these conversations. I hope these sessions can be a forum for the community to hear and understand their friends and neighbors on these challenging issues.”
“I understand this facilitation process has been tested and proven across the country; uniting communities in a common language and garnering community consensus around goals for the future work on diversity and equity,” Mayor Petty said. “I plan to participate and will be encouraging the community to join us.
The Coalition Against Bias and Hate encourages a respectful conversation in our community that will foster a community of justice, where acts of prejudice and hate will not be tolerated.
Department of Justice facilitation is intended to open lines of communication and help the community resolve its own racial problems. Effective dialogues do the following: move towards solutions rather than continue to express or analyze the problem; reach beyond the usual boundaries; and unite divided communities through a respectful, informed sharing of local racial history and its consequences for different people in today’s society, aim for a change of heart, not just a change of mind.
