Princeton Prize hosts first symposium on race

Caroline Mitchell heard those threatening words from a white classmate every morning of middle school as he boarded their school bus. But the Clarkesville, Va., native persevered, making history in 1965 as one of the first black children to integrate her local school system. Now director of the Racial Justice Institute at the YWCAs of Princeton and Trenton, Mitchell has dedicated her career to fighting the type of injustice she faced as a child.

Last Saturday in Dodds Auditorium, Mitchell and other community organizers from New Jersey and Pennsylvania gathered together to stress the need for open and honest dialogue about race and diversity in America during the first Princeton Prize Symposium on Race.

“Each of us needs to find our own source of courage so we begin to speak,” Mitchell said. “We need to continually talk about race whenever and wherever we can.”

The panelists stressed the need for discussion because of the central role of race in American society.

“Race is the root of almost every single issue that arises in this country,” said Richard Cammarieri, director of special projects for Newark-based New Community, a support organization for inner-city residents. “While we’re better off than we were, we’re nowhere near where we want to be.”

Pace Center Director Kiki Jamieson acknowledged that further progress won’t be easy, noting the need “to suggest something that hasn’t been suggested before.”

Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer, the keynote speaker at the two-day symposium, noted that evidence of America’s racial divide can be seen just down the interstate.

“[Trenton] is diverse in terms of population, but it’s actually a segregated city,” Palmer explained. He noted, however, that he has seen progress in his lifetime.

“The younger generation is not as hung up on race as the older generations,” he said. “People are getting along and are getting to know each other.”

Palmer also emphasized the importance of dialogue between people from different backgrounds, arguing that “most of the people we don’t like are the people we don’t know.”

Leading the dialogue

The Symposium was organized by the committee that awards the Princeton Prize in Race Relations, created in 2003 to recognize high school students working to improve race relations in their communities. A $1,000 prize is offered in 21 regions across the country, and 18 of this year’s winners attended the symposium.

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Hailing from cities like Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta and Washington, D.C., students spent Friday in workshops and lectures and were hosted overnight by undergraduates.

The winners’ projects included organizing a diversity retreat, creating a club against modern-day human trafficking and serving as counselors for at-risk youth.

High school student and Seattle native Kayla Williams, recognized for her efforts to promote social justice, joined other speakers in calling for unity and embracing diversity.

“We must come together and realize that we have humanity in common,” she said. “I truly believe that diversity and non-violence are the answers to the moral questions of our day.”

Fellow winner Nicholas Barrows, who developed a new course at his school called “Diversity in America,” thanked organizers for recognizing what he called “the greatest achievement of my life.”

“Thank you for giving me my first step in activism in trying to make this world a better place,” the Boston native said.

The prize’s founder, Henry Von Kohorn ’66, said bringing students to campus had been a goal ever since the program was founded.

“I really wanted to see what it would be like to get them together because it’s always a really exciting group of kids,” Von Kohorn said. “I think it’s been a great experience for them. I think for a lot of them this will have been a very meaningful event in their lives.”