Jul 15, 2004 - 23:15:44 CDT
Paul Lyles' friends wanted to leave a local bar one night after another customer approached him and said he didn't like Lyles because of the color of his skin. But Lyles, who is black, wanted to stay. He sat down with the man and talked with him. While the pair weren't friends by the end of the conversation, Lyles' new acquaintance said he "understood a little more."While his life here has been mostly good, those are the kinds of experiences Lyles, a 34-year old sociology major at Bismarck State College from Maryland, will talk about at a Bismarck Human Relations Committee meeting next week. The success of an April town hall meeting prompted the HRC to host another one at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Doublewood Inn.
The meeting, described by HRC president Kameran Ali as "part two" of the Building a Better Bismarck discussion, will focus on race and national origin. Aruna Seth will moderate the discussion. Lyles, Sia Ranjbar, Paul Baird and Grady Martin will talk about their experiences with discrimination in Bismarck, positive and negative.
When Lyles moved here, his friends in Maryland wondered why he'd come to North Dakota -- "there's nothing there," they said. But Lyles was surprised by the amount of diversity. By attending International Society meetings, and as the leader of a new multicultural club at BSC, he's met people from around the world.
"I never would have guessed there'd be so much diversity here," he said.
A new element of the town hall meeting will include small group sessions, in which audience members will provide feedback to the HRC. The information will be used to create an action plan for improving human relations, which the committee plans to take to the city commission. The HRC was created in 2002 by Mayor John Warford for people to voice concerns about discrimination, prejudice or other human relations issues.
Ali said he thinks there is a solution to curbing discrimination, but obtaining that solution is difficult.
"If everyone just understood each other, that would be the first step to solving problems," he said.
The desire to foster understanding of different cultures and beliefs has helped Lyles determine what he wants to do when he finishes college. He'd like to work in a field where he can "push diversity and let people know how important it is," he said.
"The world gets smaller every day," he said. "If we have the same basic needs we should work to get long."
Audience members also will have the chance to talk about their personal experiences or pose questions to committee members during an open mic session, Ali said. More town hall meetings may be held in the future as the committee would like to open discussion regarding all types of discrimination people deal with.
"It's a bigger thing than just race or national origin," Ali said.
To register for the meeting, go to the North Dakota Fair Housing Council's Web site at http://www.ndfhc.org/HRC.htm.
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