“Monday night, students, faculty, local politicians and members of the community gathered in E.J. Thomas Hall to listen to Donna Brazile. Brazile, who most know as a Democratic political strategist, spoke for about an hour to the audience about rethinking race.”
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Monday night, students, faculty, local politicians and members of the community gathered in E.J. Thomas Hall to listen to Donna Brazile.
Brazile, who most know as a Democratic political strategist, spoke for about an hour to the audience about rethinking race.
She spoke about her own upbringing to breaking barriers and having conversations about race.
She said people cannot hold each other accountable for what their parents or grandparents had done.
Bridging the gap between races is about having a conversation and putting it all out on the table.
This is a dialogue that is long overdue, she told the audience.
A good example of bridging the gap was that of the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Brazile stood in D.C. watching the people flood the streets. While she admitted that her first thoughts were wondering if the people had tickets or not, this event brought people together.
People just wanted to bear witness, she said. We walked all together, black, white and Asian.
She gave away her tickets to the inauguration to friends, family and children in Washington.
She wants to keep the Martin Luther King dream alive and stated that she wondered how would react if he saw society today.
This is our moment to move forward, she said. To look at how we look at each other.
There is nothing to fear in having a conversation, the weekly CNN contributor said. Things have changed, even before Obama.
While she spoke of race and the barriers our country has to overcome, she kept the talk light, often cracking jokes about her experiences.
People do not let us go beyond the color of our skin. Brazile also told the audience that everyone has played the race card and race is not a partisan issue.
Wounds will not heal by putting a black person in the White House, she said. They will heal by having a conversation.
She talked about how society had been separated into boxes-black, white, Democrat and Republican. Brazile insisted that we should all just be united as Americans.
People want to find ways to come together, she said.
Brazile’s speech was greeted with a standing ovation before she held a question and answer session with members in the audience.
She later held a small session with students and faculty where her book Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in America was for sale. She signed copies for the group that had gathered.
The event was hosted by the Office of Multicultural Development as a part of rethinking race week.
Call News Editor Allison Strouse at:
330-972-7395
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” #1.1360603:1935777270.jpg:20080203_brazile1_md.jpg:Donna Brazile spoke about rethinking race and not holding back anything as people live their lives.:MELISSA DUNFEE/ THE BUCHTELITE”