Everyone's struggle

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- All of us are in this struggle together. The struggle is not over.\nThis year's Civil Rights Immersion Trip to Birmingham, hosted by the CommUnity Education Program, was successful because it challenged the notions that civil-rights struggles were a "black issue" and that the movement is over.\nFrom Burma to Bloomington, France to Florida, Pakistan to Pennsylvania, blacks, whites, Latinos, Arabs, Asians, women and men -- all came together to learn more about courageous individuals behind the civil rights struggle. \nTaking the "Freedom Walk" in Kelly Ingram Park, along a trail of the neatly paved concrete leading to sculptures of activists, one cannot help but stare back at the glaring eyes of history.\nWhen you arrive in Birmingham, the remnants of segregation are still apparent. Clear economic divisions between what is "black" and "white" are evident in neighborhoods, businesses and even restaurants.\nGregory Lewis, a 62-year-old retired black man, told me a gloomy story about when the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan on Sept. 15, 1963.\nLewis was working on the other side of town when a loud bang ripped through the streets like thunder. No one knew who did it, but the news spread quickly. Four little girls, who had been getting ready in the bathroom, were killed by the bomb.\nHe said he cannot forget that day. He also said that while laws have changed some of that mentality remains.\nLewis sat at the stairs below the church, waiting for the bus. Poor, retired and critical about race relations in Alabama, he waited patiently for the bus that he said at one time would not always pick him up and would seat blacks in the back. \n"When I was younger, I used to wonder if I would ever sit in the front of the bus," Lewis said with a grin before he walked off.\nSpeakers, film series, photography and sculptures from the Civil Rights Institute, Kelly Ingram Park and the 16th Street Baptist Church depicted the harsh existence of freedom fighters. \nOrdinary people, all a part of an extraordinary experience, were beaten, harassed, jailed and killed by police for attempting to integrate buses, restaurants, schools and neighborhoods.\nAt the end of the excursion, students had the opportunity to reflect on what they had seen, what they had heard. A dialogue about race and slavery ensued. Some thoughts were eye-opening. Others revealed that more dialogue was needed.\nA student said it was difficult for her to talk about "black issues" because she did not want to be misunderstood and offend someone.\nAnother student stated that she did not like to see the images and asked why whites today are held responsible for something that happened a long time ago.\nOne student replied that the wealth from slavery was passed down from generation to generation and that the majority receives those benefits today.\nThe Civil Rights Immersion trip was successful because it exposed discrimination experienced by all races and challenged the notion that the struggle was over. Conversations on civil rights quickly pulled in issues of human rights in developing countries. More importantly, the trip created a safe space for dialogue about race.