HIGHLAND HEIGHTS - One group's answer to the state of race relations in Northern Kentucky was to say nothing.
The silence was short-lived, however, as the group of professionals and community leaders gathered Tuesday began discussing problems of race relations. The small, diverse group was one of five at Northern Kentucky University's Greaves Concert Hall tackling one of America's most troubling issues.
Relationships shallow
It was among six community-based discussions about race across the state. Others were in Ashland, Bowling Green, Louisville, Paducah and Lexington, where a televised panel discussion followed local conversations.
At NKU, one woman said the relationships between many blacks and whites aren't very deep.
A man in the same group said it's important that discussions about race relations be broadened to include Hispanics and Asian Americans.
In another group, the talk was about how people need to admit that racism is a problem in order to effectively address it.
''What is happening in Northern Kentucky and other parts of the country is a state of denial,'' said Hensley Jemmott of Covington. ''We have to admit that there is a problem ... it is eating its way at all of us.''
New perspective
Katherine Meyer, the group's facilitator, said she tried to put herself in the shoes of a black person one day by walking the street with a black male at her side.
''I had never been followed by the police before until I walked down the street with a black man,'' said Ms. Meyer, coordinator of the NKU Women's Center.
Such open and honest dialogues were one of the goals the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights set when it organized the event.
''I think tonight's program is just a beginning,'' said Beverly L. Watts, the commission's executive director. ''And I think to be successful, we need to have individuals in communities to begin dialogues around the issue of race to break down the barriers.''
Some participants leaned closely toward the discussion in their groups and took notes during the Conversation on Race, as participants talked about everything from how people can educate themselves about different ethnic groups to institutionalized racism.
''Progress is made step by step, little by little,'' Kenton County Judge-executive Clyde Middleton told his group.
Gov. Paul Patton addressed the community-based groups by television, calling what they were partaking in ''a historic beginning'' for Kentucky.
He also challenged people to get involved in the discussion on race.
Ms. Watts said members of her staff will begin traveling around the commonwealth to help the various communities continue the dialogue on race.
''We're really going to ask people to start conversations. The real people who have the answers are in the communities,'' said Ms. Watts, who attended the panel discussion in Lexington.
