Community leaders and members discuss actions needed to address racism as part of YWCA’s Stand Against Racism initiative

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WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – The YWCA held its annual Potluck for Peace event as part of its Stand Against Racism initiative.

The City of Wilmington’s Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer, Joe Conway, spoke Thursday night — challenging community members to take their conversation beyond the event and think about how they can take action.

“Make an effective change, make a tooth, if you will. So, how do we stop just talking about it and doing what stand against racism actually says—that’s action, okay? conversations are good, I always start with a discussion but how do we move things forward?,” Conway said.

Something Conway hopes the community will start to think about are simple ways that every individual can make a difference to end racism. To help with that, Conway came up with some starting points for the acronym ‘STAND.’

“Sacrifice, teach, acknowledge, negotiate, so the last is D, this one is easy, dream,” Conway said. “The YWCA has said their purpose, their cause, their belief is to stand against racism, but if you’re going to do that you need the dream, you need the vision.”

Community members addressed important questions during an open discussion like ‘what will happen is the issues around equity aren’t addressed in our community?’ and ‘how does social media negatively and positively impact that equity?’

“If we don’t do anything about equity, it’ll just get worse because the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and nothing happens. So, it does take us being active and involved in doing something to make a difference,” one woman said.

Another man said “social media doesn’t really encourage [inclusion]it encourages certain groups to coalesce but to be separate from some other groups that come together, so there’s this notion of dividing constantly.”

Leaders with the YWCA said that taking action is an individual approach, but they hope Thursday night’s discussion simply helped educate and enlighten more people in the community.

“Come with open minds. When we walk into a room, we may just assume certain things but hopefully when we walk out we will be educated and enlightened on whether we want to change our thought process or the way we do [things] and I think every conversation we engage in is important, especially when you’re dealing with different people,” said YWCA Board President Evelyn Bryant.

“We have a road map, we have the plan, the question is ‘do you have the vision to see what you may not be able to inherit, but maybe the next generation will?’,” Conway asked. “Your stand means that you don’t get to see it sometimes, sometimes you just have to trust that someone will pick up your mantle and carry for you.”

The YWCA will hold its Swim Against Racism event on Sunday, April 24. For more information, click here.

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