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CITIZEN VOICES


RACE & DIVERSITY DIALOGUE - JULY 27, 1999

On July 27th, over 100 citizens of Philadelphia converged on the Inquirer building to talk about race and diversity in the city. The goal wasn't to solve the city's problems in one night, but rather to get a dialogue going about race and diversity in Philadephia, both the benefits and the challenges. The citizen voices moderators presented the citizens with the following questions:

  • Why did you come here tonight?
  • What stories do you have about how race and diversity in Philadelphia have affected you?
  • What voices haven't we heard tonight? What perspectives are missing from our discussion?
  • What are your observations about race and diversity in Philadelphia based on the points brought up tonight?

    After these questions, the citizens were asked to finish the following sentence: "Based on our discussion tonight, I would say Philadelphia's most important challenge or opportunity regarding race and diversity is…" These statements will be used to focus discussion in the follow-up forum on race, which will be held on Thursday, September 9th, at 6:30 p.m. at the Inquirer building.

    The discussions in the six groups that met to discuss race and diversity are summarized on the following pages:

    GROUP 1: Moderators - Dick Gross, Julia Rota, Meredith Keiser
    GROUP 2: Moderators - Harris Sokoloff, Veronica Davis
    GROUP 3: Moderators - Louise Giugliano, Jean DiSabatino, Courtney Bennett
    GROUP 4: Moderators - Larry McKenzie, Susan Sherr
    GROUP 5: Moderators - Andy Schaum, Melinda Scott
    GROUP 6: Moderators - Michelle Charles, David Dutwin

    Click here to see the groups' final statements and conclusions.



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