Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction Strangers in a Strange Land
- 1 Ellis Island South and Maine’s Mogadishu
- 2 The Meaning of Somali Settlement and the Boundaries of Belonging
- 3 Being the Inclusive Community
- 4 Disciplined to Diversity
- 5 Familiar Strangers
- Conclusion Cultural Scaffolding
- References
- Index
- References
3 - Being the Inclusive Community
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction Strangers in a Strange Land
- 1 Ellis Island South and Maine’s Mogadishu
- 2 The Meaning of Somali Settlement and the Boundaries of Belonging
- 3 Being the Inclusive Community
- 4 Disciplined to Diversity
- 5 Familiar Strangers
- Conclusion Cultural Scaffolding
- References
- Index
- References
Summary
The Two Towns of Jasper
On October 3 and 4, 2003, I attended my first diversity training conference in Lewiston, Maine. I learned of the event through the sarcastic editorial discussed in Chapter 2, in which the editor of the conservative weekly paper, the Twin City Times, suggested that outsiders considered Lewiston a town of racist “horrible white people” requiring reeducation. I sought out registration information for the event and found a description of the “Lewiston and the Two Towns of Jasper Project” on the website of the Maine chapter of the international anti-racist organization hosting the event:
[We, the organization] invite community members to an open discussion about race.
On June 7, 1998, in Jasper, Texas, James Byrd Jr., an African American man, was brutally murdered – dragged behind a pick-up truck. The crime became the basis for a documentary film about race in America – “Two Towns of Jasper ...”
We will provide a forum to watch the film ... and discuss the similarities and differences between Jasper, Texas and Lewiston, Maine. We will then lead a process to explore a controversial issue that has caused division in the city enabling people to find common ground, move forward, and find solutions. In addition to the opportunities for dialogue, we will provide a day for individuals to learn about welcoming diversity into their lives.”
I registered for the two-day project, paying the requested fee and explaining my status as an ethnographic researcher in Lewiston to the program leaders and, on the first day of the event, to the other conference participants.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Strangers and NeighborsMulticulturalism, Conflict, and Community in America, pp. 82 - 108Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013