Summit on Racism

This was the fifth and final year of the Summit. I have attended four of them. This is an all day conference on racism, basically for everyone, but specifically for those in the community who want to make Holland a better place for everyone. This was the smallest group I remember...probably four or five hundred. Year one, there was over 800 if I remember correctly. Many in the community think it is a bunch of whiners talking about something that does not exist. The disconnect is that if you ask ANY person of color (non-white) they all say the same thing: they have all experience vestages of racism frequently; in housing, at stores, at restaurants, at work (which is where a lot of progress has resulted due to some pretty heavy sanctions on the employer if people are harrassed.) There are racial stereotypes everywhere not to mention the disrespect we show by referring (even today) to certain groups in slang terms.

Living in West Michigan is no picnic. The Van Andel Institute...the pre-eminent cancer research center cannot hire the "best and brightest" to come here to live. Many of them are Indian, Bengalis, Jews or some other minority that wants to live and work in a community where there are more people like them and where they are treated with respect. I ran into the same problem when recruiting scientists for Perrigo. Who wants to live in Allegan, even Kalamazoo or GR? Fortunately Pfizer (formerly Upjohn) has a "colony" PhD scientists from third world nations in Portage, so many of them live there. Any wonder why Portage has such a great school system?

Many Holland residents do not have a clue...witness some of the comments in the letters to the editor of the Sentinel. One sample that is incredible is that we as a society are enabling foreigners who move here to not learn English when we furnish signage and interpreters in public places or at stores. Give me a break. These services are furnished for business reasons...he who is the most user friendly gets the competative edge. As far as social services are concerned...try to mediate a dispute with one person who does not speak English well. And on it goes.

Anyhow, the Summit served a useful purpose as far as I am concerned. If nothing else it got me working harder in the area of race. I have helped out at Woodrick Institute for Healing Racism for three years and I have made some really good friends who are not white...and that is hard to do around here. I also now have the guts to squelch some blatently racist comments simply on the grounds they were uttered. I want no prizes, but I feel I am contributing something to the battle even if it is being a reliable ally. I have thrown in my two cents in my book presentations.

We had some really great speakers over the years...Ray Suarez of PBS' Leherer Report comes to mind. The other was the Dean of the Law School at Ohio State. He was of mixed blood growing up first as a white in Virginia then after his parents' divorce, with his black grand parents in Muncie, Indiana where being a light skinned dark person was the same as being all black. That was a story. Today's speaker was the Dean of the Law School at Wayne State. He was good, but not great. He is of Chinese ancestory.