April 30, on Standing Against Racism Day, Not in Our Town members and Princeton YWCA supporters ended a full day of Standing Against Racism rallies with a 5 p.m rally at Tiger Park in Palmer Square, featuring the a capella group from Princeton High, Around Eight.
We held signs and gave out pins: NIOT’s pin “Princeton: Let Friendship and Pride in Diversity Prevail” and the YWCA’s pin: “racism hurts everyone: eliminating racism, empowering women.” We distributed brochures and invited passers-by to sign posters making a pledge to act against racism. We offered a “thinking bowl” with slips of paper containing thought questions, such as
Can you recall an early experience when you realized that there were races other than
yours? Did it seem natural (easy) to communicate with them? Did that ease last?
In conversations about race, is it easier (or harder) for you to talk in some generalities
and historical perspective than to talk about your own experiences and feelings?
What are the forces and institutions that define what “American culture” is –
what is included (dance, music, language, literature) and who gets to participate?
and
Do you think there is a double standard about what is acceptable if whites say something offensive and blacks say something offensive? Example: Don Imus and Al Sharpton.
The conversation will continue in the “Continuing Conversations on Race and White Privilege” on Monday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Princeton Public Library.
For more pictures, a link.