LSU Health Shreveport, Centenary College, the Multicultural Center of the South, and Southern University at Shreveport have announced plans for a collaboration promoting community-wide discussions on race and ethnicity. The groups will use the PBS documentary “RACE—The Power of an Illusion” to start the conversation.

“Our primary focus in hosting the series is to engage every segment of our community in an open, honest, on-going discussion on race, racism, and diversity,” said Kenneth Hunter, Director of Diversity Affairs at LSU Health Shreveport.

Matt Bailey, Centenary’s Senior Director for External Relations stated, “Within our community, we have enough collective experience to know that we won't answer every question or get any of this perfect on the first try. However, we believe this community has enough hope, energy, and commitment to want to have the difficult conversations about race and ethnicity.”

The discussions will be based on three one-hour episodes of the documentary. All events will start at 7 pm and end at approximately 8:30 pm.

Episode 1—Oct. 11, Southern University at Shreveport - Metro Campus, Room 310/311: “The Difference Between Us” examines how recent scientific discoveries have toppled the concept of biological race.

Episode 2—Oct 18, Robinson Film Center: “The Story We Tell” uncovers the roots of the race concept, including the 19th-century science that legitimized it and the hold it has gained in conventional thinking.

Episode 3—Oct. 25, LSU Health Shreveport: “The House We Live In” focuses on how institutions shape and create race, giving different groups unequal life chances.

After each viewing, a one-hour discussion will be moderated by the sponsors.

“We believe it is possible for people with varying viewpoints and persuasions to come together and learn from each other,” noted Janice Gatlin, Director of Multi-Cultural Center.

“Amazing things can happen when people from different worlds and world-views approach each other to begin a conversation,” added Janice Sneed, Southern’s Vice Chairman of Community Engagement.
The presentations will be free and open to the public. For further information, contact Ken Hunter at 318.675.8125 or khunt6@lsuhsc.edu.