MEETING FOCUSES ON DIVERSITY; UNDERSTANDING IS A KEY, SAYS PANELIST

It was months in the making, but the panelists Wednesday night all agreed that a forum on diversity could not come at a better time.

The People-to-People forum was planned long before the June 11 melee on Good Hope Street, but it became the focal point as the place to begin to bring about better community relations.

The melee occurred after police arrested a man for allegedly attempting to interfere when police tried to stop a suspected drug deal. More than 150 people were involved. Some of them threw objects at the police.

"This is the season of our discontent," said a panelist, the Rev. David Allen, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

About 50 people gathered at the Show Me Cemter to participate in a discussion of how to help bring better communication between people with diverse backgrounds. The event was co-sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Multicultural Committee and Southeast Missouri State University.

Other panelists were Mayor Al Spradling III; Chamber of Commerce President John Mehner; Donna Noble Cavitte, Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Commission on Human Rights executive director; Paul Keys, dean of Health and Human Services at Southeast Missouri State; the Rev. Jim Caughlin of the Ministerial Alliance and the Rev. William Bird of the African-American Ministerial Alliance.

Cavitte said people need to understand each other and recognize that differences are not always bad.

"Being different is neither good or bad," she said. "It is just different. If someone disagrees with us, that is not necessarily wrong."

She and the other panelists stressed the importance of making sure that the entire community begins talking to each other and trying to understand different perspectives.

"We need to stop talking about each other," Allen said. "We need to stop talking down to each other. We need to stop talking around each other, and start talking to each other."

He said even some of the most basic aspects of life can be misunderstood.

"If you see a 16-year-old black male wearing pants that are oversized and a long shirt and tennis shoes, to some people you have no idea how threatening that is," Allen said. They say "That is a criminal waiting to hurt me if I turn my back."

But Allen said to the person wearing the clothes, that is just how they dress and the misunderstanding begins.

Even terminology can add to the misunderstanding. Walter White, who owns a business on South Sprigg Street, told the panel that to him even the basis of the discussion were racist.

"You say you want to do something to help minorities," White said. "I don't classify myself as a minority. I consider myself made in the image of God, and God don't make any minorities."

As the panelists discussed ways to help people understand their differences, several suggestions emerged. One was the possibility of an advisory board for the city to deal with human relations and work with city officials to arrange cultural events. Another idea was to make the old May Greene School into a civic center to specialize in providing multicultural events and services to the community.

"We are trying our best to engage people from all cultures," Spradling said.

The panelists agreed that the community can do much to improve race relations in the city, but it is up to individuals to take some initiative. Spradling said people need to start neighborhood watch programs and do their own policing. Others suggested that people begin to branch out and try to experience other cultures and alter their routines to learn from other people.

"You have to really listen and then really care about people," Bird said. "You have got to get with people to really understand people. Do something you normally aren't accustomed to. You know Jesus knew who he was and where he was going, yet he pulled off his robe and served."