Speaker brings race relations closer to home

Former Mississippi Gov. William Winter lived through the segregation of the 1930s, the civil rights movement of the 1960s and participated in race relations reforms in the 1980s and 1990s.

He shared his experiences with a group of more than 100 students at the UNC School of Government on Tuesday, focusing on the political transformation he has seen in his lifetime and ways government can continue to improve.

Parker Wiseman, treasurer of the Carolina Society of Future Leaders, a sponsor of the event, also is from Mississippi and said he hopes students learned something from Winter.

"He is the best we have to offer, and I'm very proud to say we came from the same state," he said.

Erin Langston, a CSFL member, said the group asked Winter to speak not only because of his experience as governor, but also because of his national recognition for progress in education and race relations.

As governor, Winter made major reforms in Mississippi's education system, including establishing public kindergarten as a part of the 1982 Education Reform Act. He also was appointed to the National Advisory Board on Race Relations under President Bill Clinton.

"I personally went to 26 states and talked to people from every kind of background," he said.

Prejudice existed even among board members, Winter said.

When the White House called offering him a position on the board, he was told that other members included a black female preacher from Harlem, Suzan Johnson Cook. He said he expected to have a hard time getting along with her.

After they developed a friendship, he told her about his initial reservations. She said she felt the same way about working beside an old, white former governor of Mississippi.

Regardless, Winter said he has been astonished to see the South change so drastically during his lifetime.

When he was a child, most of his friends were black, and at the end of every summer, they would have to go to a different school.

Later, while in the U.S. Army, he served with black officers during the week. But on Saturday, they would have to sit in the back of the bus on their way into town.

Although discrimination is now illegal, Winter said there still is much work to be done to improve race relations.

"Because we've wiped old legal barriers off the books, we think it's OK," he said. "As far as we've come, we still have far to go.

"We have a more difficult challenge than we ever had before. We are seeing a drastically changing demographic of the South."

In order to create a harmonious society, Winter said much of the responsibility lies with elected officials.

"In a time of increasing partisanship and political division, another huge task facing us is the preservation of civility and collegiality," he said.

"We must find ways to accommodate our differences in reasonable ways. Otherwise, we end up with political gridlock with nothing getting done or the wrong thing getting done. Most of us, I think, want about the same thing."

He said the problem is perpetuated when officials demonize one another in the interest of being morally or religiously righteous.

"God does not wear a political hat," he said.

But Winter said the most important office held is the "office of private citizenry."

"When all is said and done, the kind of region we pass on to our children will be the measure of our priorities."

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.