Residents explore ethnic bias in a night of difficult conversations

Jan. 25—CHEYENNE — Seventy-two area residents, many of them community leaders, gathered at the Laramie County Library on Tuesday night for the first installment of Braver Angels and Better Together's three-part "Stories and Conversation" series.

However, the conversations held throughout the night didn't come easy.

The 90-minute event was designed to explore the participants' biases, and allow for those who have experienced racial adversity to share their stories.

"Tonight is not about solutions," Tom Brantley, co-chair of the Braver Angels Wyoming chapter, said in his introductory speech. "Tonight is just about listening to each other, trying to understand each other, and thinking deeply and introspectively about how ethnic bias affects us personally.

"We might contribute to it, or we might be victims."

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle was invited to sit in with one of the small groups as they explored different prompts in breakout sessions and discussed the experiences of three guest speakers throughout the night.

Prompts asked participants to consider if they had ever stereotyped someone of another ethnicity, to recall the first time they experienced people of different ethnicities relating to each other and to think about whether their personal biases have changed through the years.

Prior to breaking into small groups, a set of rules waS given — that individuals would seek understanding; that they would be frank, but kind; and that participants would respect what they heard, both during and after the meeting.

The group that included the Wyoming Tribune Eagle contained a relatively diverse sample size that offered up a multifaceted discussion.

Among the small group, participants shared their experiences of growing up in different countries and relocating to America. Some compared their experiences in Cheyenne to the states they had grown up in or cities where they'd previously lived. Those that have spent their entire lives in the Cheyenne area recalled the many ways that the city has changed.

Much of the group agreed that Cheyenne is largely the same city in which they observed prejudice when they were younger. Some members of different ethnic backgrounds considered Cheyenne one of the more accepting places they've lived, however.

After the first discussion, guest speakers took the stage, including Pastor Steve Ganison of New Kingdom Church of God in Christ. He spoke about prejudice he faced from his father-in-law, and shared a story of visiting his parents in Mississippi in 1990, during which he experienced social ridicule for being seen in public with his wife, who is white.

Sally Sato, who served as a pharmacist in the United States Air Force, shared her times experiencing racial bias. She did joke that, if one asked her, she wouldn't share her ethnic background.

Her stories were tailored to her personality — humorous and tough. The farther she moves away from the memories, the funnier she finds them, she said.

"People tend to say my kids are 'American-Eurasian,' and I have a problem with that," Sato said. "I'm from America, too, so just call me American. That's what I tell people when they ask, 'What nationality are you?'

"I always say 'American.' I'm not from any other country."

Sato's stories illustrated how time and time again she experienced "very severe harassment," with blatant insults related to her racial background. She recalled one story where a friend asked her parents if her sister spoke English, though she was born in America and both of her parents were native English speakers.

Antonio Serrano, advocacy director for the ACLU of Wyoming, also was in attendance, and shared his story of growing up Latino in southeast Wyoming. Serrano asked that his speech not be quoted in this article, but his recollection of extreme racial adversity made a significant impact upon the small group.

Amidst all of the personal testimony, there was one message that the audience took away from the event — residents of the Cheyenne area must be active in combating racial bias within the community.

The small group recognized this, and reiterated what they had discussed before. In the future, they said, they intend to expand their social circle in a city where racial bias is "more common" than you think.

The next session of the "Stories and Conversations" series will be held in April and feature a film-and-discussion format. The third of the three-part series will be a panel discussion.

Will Carpenter is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's Arts and Entertainment/Features Reporter. He can be reached by email at wcarpenter@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3135. Follow him on Twitter @will_carp_.