Washington County was treated to a gem of a lecture on race
in America on a cool Monday evening at W&J College. The event was well attended by students and
interested citizens to hear author, journalist and academic, Jelani Cobb present
the first lecture sponsored by W&J’s African American Studies Program.
The first half of the talk dealt with the importance of
interpreting American History within the context of slavery and race. The Constitution, addition of States to the
Union, the Civil War and fundamental Supreme Court decisions must be studied
within the framework of slavery and later, segregation in order to understand
our “original sin” and its continuing influence on American society. Those who
would prefer to sugarcoat the past are only making it more difficult for the
nation to heal in 2018.
The lecture concluded with some of Mr. Cobb’s personal
experiences with diversity. He grew up
in Queens, New York, a melting pot for established minorities and new
immigrants alike. Hundreds of languages
are spoken within the Borough. As a child the speaker’s baseball team was a
cornucopia of different cultures all dedicated to winning a game.
These remarks reminded me that diversity is a circumstance
to be encouraged, not a problem to be managed.
My belief that Washington County needs a diversity council to explore
and strengthen its ties to multiculturalism was reaffirmed by the lecture.
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