DATE: Wednesday, July 2, 1997               TAG: 9707020564

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   61 lines

RACISM FORUM ADDRESSES TOUGH QUESTIONS

Lisa Hillian, 19, went to a community forum on ``Moving Beyond Racism'' in hopes of getting answers to her long-burning question.

She sat through a scholarly account about misconceptions of black people's roles in American society, denunciation of the media's role in racism, contention that discrimination is really an economic issue and debate on whether President Clinton's apology for slavery will do any good.

Finally, Hillian found courage to ask what she really wanted to know: ``What is it that bothers white Americans so much about black people?''

``I was kind of kind of scared to ask the question. . . . I didn't want anyone to feel uncomfortable,'' said Hillian, an African American who grew up in the mostly white Larrymore Lawns neighborhood and now attends predominantly black Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina.

Still, Hillian said, she's felt hurt over the years and wanted an answer. ``I can be friendly with someone that's white, but behind my back they'll talk about me, my people, and I've always wondered, `What is it that has bothered white people about us? Are we that bad? Is it the color of our skin? Is it the way we dress? The way we walk? The way we talk? . . .

``And why can't we all get along and walk as one and equal?' ''

After the forum, Hillian said she didn't think she heard the answer. ``Everybody kind of went around it,'' she said.

Nevertheless, she said the forum was ``a start, definitely'' to fostering better relations among blacks, whites and people of other colors and ethnic backgrounds.

The forum was the third on ``Facing Race,'' sponsored by the Neighborhood Network, a civic coalition that tries to build stronger connections among Norfolk's many neighborhoods and seek solutions to common problems.

And while the forum did not provide an answer to Hillian, it did explore some potential solutions to questions such as what people can do to heal the wounds of racism.

Suggestions included: improving communication, providing more opportunities for people to have common experiences, finding ways for people of different colors to work together as neighbors, fighting stereotypes in the news and entertainment media and having more white Americans acknowledge the still-lingering social problems caused by slavery and racism.

``It was a wonderful forum,'' said Cassandra Newby-Alexander, an assistant professor of history at Norfolk State University and the keynote speaker. ``There were so many different views and ideas and positions that were expressed. It was definitely a beginning.''

Newby-Alexander contended that traditional history books have overlooked the contributions of blacks to American society and downplayed the racism that has plagued the nation since its conception. The years of such teaching continue to foster misconceptions, despite recent improvements in scholarship, she said.

Yet Newby-Alexander expressed confidence in the nation's universal ideals.

``The American Dream doesn't have a color attached to it. It actually doesn't even have a culture or a nation attached to it,'' she said. ``It is a human dream.'' MEMO: The next Neighborhood Network forum, on Aug. 6, will feature

Thomas Bogger of Norfolk State University on ``A Historical View of

Race Relations in Norfolk.'' For information, call Beverly Sell,

857-1794.

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