The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center announced details Wednesday on an exhibit that will help people talk more honestly and directly about diversity.

        When the $110 million Freedom Center opens on the Cincinnati riverfront in 2004, visitors will be invited to join an interracial dialogue as part of the last section of exhibits.

        That could include highlights of current issues of freedom worldwide, electronic polling and brief, facilitated discussions.

        Research on interracial dialogue and the center's forum-like exhibit has been developed for more than three years. In January, organizers began conducting focus groups nationwide with Viewpoint Learning, a California firm that promotes dialogue-based learning.

        “Americans have reached a point in our evolution as a society where we accept the idea of diversity but aren't yet comfortable talking across racial lines, especially the line between black and white,” said Daniel Yankelovich, the project's lead researcher and founder of Viewpoint Learning.

        Freedom Center organizers say the format is intended to provide visitors with ways to think about and discuss their experiences.

        “Our goal is to shed history's light on contemporary freedom issues,” said Ed Rigaud, president and chief executive officer of the Freedom Center, “and to promote interracial/intergroup cooperation through meaningful dialogue inspired by our history.”

        The Freedom Center is intended as a tribute to the Underground Railroad — a network of African-Americans, abolitionists and their allies who helped slaves escape from the South to freedom in the North before the Civil War.

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