COLUMBUS, Ind. — An estimated 6,000 viewers watched an online discussion on race and racism Monday morning among a group of four friends who grew up together in Columbus.
That unscripted-but-serious keynote conversation was part of the kickoff of the local 24th Annual Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration “The Dream Lives On.” The local African American Pastors Alliance, involved in everything from education to media, organized the virtual event amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The gathering, normally presented as a breakfast, has most recently been held at The Commons, where it has attracted about 330 people, ranging from leaders in local government, law enforcement, nonprofits, foundations, education, health care, business, and houses of worship.
Pastor Mike Harris, who leads the pastors alliance, said he loved hearing the audience size.
“That’s beautiful,” Harris said.
He added that the success meant that perhaps next year’s event could be held both in person and virtually.
Instead of using a single keynote speaker as in the past, originally chosen speaker John Sims, athletic director at St. Peter’s Lutheran School, and longtime friend and Columbus City Council member Jerone Wood, both of whom are Black, decided to invite two of their white friends — Chris Scott and Kyle Hendricks — to have an informal discussion. The four sat around a table in a Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. meeting room.
Sims acknowledged afterward that he expected a viewing audience in the range of a few hundred at most. As the four spoke in front of microphones, viewers reacted with comments.
Understandably, some of the more emotional comments drew quick, empathetic viewer reactions, such as when Sims remembered the first racial slur directed at him. He was on the playground in first grade.
Clearly, the memory saddened him. Sadder still was to hear his young daughter face the same sort of slurs on a playground not long ago.
“I was so upset (about that),” Sims said. “I was sad. I was disappointed.”
They each discussed how they viewed King, the civil rights leader assassinated in 1968 long before any of the group members were born.
Wood acknowledged that he grew up with a larger-than-life view of King.
“It wasn’t exactly like he was a superhero,” Wood said. “But he did kind of have that persona to me. That was how much I looked up to him.”
All acknowledged in some way that they enjoy Columbus and Bartholomew County. But they also acknowledged that racism is real for local minorities. At the same time, they said they see hope.
Wood said he believes that the community “is trending in the right direction.” And Scott chimed in that “I’ve never seen more white voices trying to speak out (for equality).” One example of that was a June 2020 rally for racial justice that attracted 700 to 1,000 people — mostly white — at the Columbus City Hall plaza.
Hendricks said that, for some white people, truly understanding what minorities face amid racism “is almost like asking them to draw a picture of the air. Because of so much white privilege, the problem can be kind of invisible,” he said.
All mentioned that laws and government measures to fight racism have their place. But Sims led the comments that only a deep and personal change of heart ultimately can stop people from hating those of another ethnicity.
“And it’s hard to kill something (like racism) that you can’t actually see,” Scott said.
