Murray State University hosts a teach-in today titled "Eracism 101," an effort in advancing the community in conversation on race in a positive way. Tracie Gilbert, Minority Teaching Fellow in the MSU Department of Psychology, English & Philosophy says the lack of touching the topic of race and racism fosters ignorance and that aversion and denial is what leads to the perpetuation of injustices. She speaks with Kate Lochte on Sounds Good about the courageous conversations and what the event hopes to achieve.
The afternoon portions of the summit involve students who spoke out initially on the events in Ferguson, Missouri, bring light to issues in the United States, specifically related to that issue. Following this, were stories, poetry, ideas and comments connected to experience with race and racism. Tracie Gilbert says not everyone is an expert on race and racial issues, but everyone has a story, and the sharing of those stories in a constructive way is important in achieving intercultural understanding and acceptance.
"When we're talking about race, I think people have such surface understandings of what we're actually dealing with that they don't do the work of digging deeper, that they don't do the work of understanding not just interpersonal racism, but structural racism and systemic racism and all the ways that race plays out in ways that we don't even recognize. So we hope this is a springboard for more intentional discussions, more intentional digging and work in that regard."
The evening event at 7: Race and Courage in the Age of Yik-Yak, is in the Curris Center and open to the public.
