40 talk race at MLK event

On Monday, Anne Hastings brought the elephant into the room.

As the keynote speaker for the MLK Youth Leadership Program, Hastings, a UNC sociology professor, harkened back to her youth, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was her hero.

“MLK was a hero of mine, even as a white female,” she said. “You have to become uncomfortable before you can become comfortable, just like I did in my time.”

To make students uncomfortable, Hastings brought a plush stuffed elephant to the Student Union multi-purpose room, placing it in the middle of a circle of about 40 students from the Durham area and their UNC/Duke Movement of Youth mentors to spur a frank discussion on stereotypes.

“Do you know what this means?” she asked students as she pointed to the elephant.

“We don’t have as many conversations across races as we should. We tend to be guarded when we are in mixed company—so it’s the elephant in the room everyone claims not to notice.”

The program also explored Dr. King’s legacy by showing a short clip of his “I have a dream” speech, engaging the students in interactive activities and discussing the country’s current racial mood.

“Dr. King was someone who was about change, and not doing service on this day would make his legacy go out in vain,” said Bianca Bell, co-chairwoman of the MLK Day for Service workshop.

“For our youth to make a difference, people need to not underestimate themselves. If we come together as one, we can really make a difference.”

One of the participants in the program, Tybreisha Terry of Hillside New Tech High School, said these types of exercises are necessary even though they may be uncomfortable at first.

“We need to make a difference as youth, and to do that we need to get in touch with each other, because we don’t even understand our peers,” she said.

This thought was racing through each of the participants’ heads, as almost every student made a statement about how race has affected their lives personally.

“We are all so much more alike than we understand,” said Hastings.

“But there is no such thing as being color blind.”

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