CLEVELAND – When it comes to football, most Clevelanders bleed orange and brown together. But when it comes to race, many say Cleveland is a city still divided 50 years after the March on Washington.
“We are still facing some of the same obstacles that we did 50 years ago when it relates to race,” said Theasha Daniely, acting director of Cleveland’s Community Relations Department.
With a mission of promoting amicable relations in Cleveland, the department has sponsored five race relations forums throughout the city since last October. Residents who attended expressed concerns that racism still exists from employment opportunities to a simple trip to the store.
“Even in the grocery store certain areas where people would go to shop, they feel they’re treated different than in their neighborhood grocery store,” Daniely said. “They were looked at as if you don’t belong here in certain areas of the city of Cleveland and they didn’t feel welcome at the store.”
But the forums were a first step, according to Community Relations Board member Peter Whitt.
“People left excited and encouraged to go home and do something in their own neighborhood,” he said.
To read more and see a Web Extra on how to improve race relations, Click Here: NewsNet5.com
Article, Picture and Video Courtesy of WEWS NewsChannel 5
