Dover racism forum attracts large crowd

Dover racism forum attracts large crowd

DOVER — A larger-than-expected turnout at a Dover School District community forum on race and racism, was only the beginning, according to organizers.

That was the hope of many in the room who felt the intimate small, group conversations were productive but concerned the positive energy in the room could soon dissipate without continued work.

A little over 200 people attended the forum titled, “Facing race, racism, and stereotypes,” which was sparked by a video that surfaced early last month of two students singing “KKK, KKK, Let’s kill all the blacks,” in a Dover High School U.S. History class. That song, which bore out of an assignment about the Reconstruction Era, led to the teacher being put on paid administrative leave while the district conducted an investigation, which is still not complete.

The video was not referenced by organizers of the forum other than being called “the incident.” District Superintendent William Harbron began the event by saying, “We have a journey to go.” The journey, which he said the administration began last July, was to uncover and understand some biases they may not have known they have that color their decision making. That journey is being extended to the staff, students and now the community. The forum, he said, is the beginning of the journey, not the end of it, and it was not being held “to talk about the incident.”

Upon signing in, attendees were randomly assigned to small groups that each had a facilitator that was affiliated with either NH Listens, Great Schools Partnership or Everyday Democracy who helped put the forum together. After a large group discussion at the beginning, facilitators worked with their groups to build trust among its members that encouraged people to feel safe sharing their views and experiences on sensitive topics.