History
Washtenaw Faces Race is an all-volunteer, inter-racial, interdisciplinary group that is in the building stages toward becoming an organization that will consciously and consistently work to dismantle racial hierarchy and promote racial equity in local institutions within Washtenaw County.
Starting in 2011, and across the country, in the wake of the traveling exhibition “Race: Are We So Different?”, various communities became involved in an initiative to more deeply address the twin issues of race and racism. In Washtenaw County, beginning in 2012, in anticipation of the exhibit’s 2013 visit to the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History, a host of activities took place or were planned for the following year in several areas throughout Washtenaw County:
By 2014, the University-based activities had run their course, but the special committee that was created continued to exist. Today, that now independent and self-sustaining committee calls itself Washtenaw Faces Race.
Washtenaw Faces Race is an all-volunteer, inter-racial, interdisciplinary group that is in the building stages toward becoming an organization that will consciously and consistently work to dismantle racial hierarchy and promote racial equity in local institutions within Washtenaw County.
Starting in 2011, and across the country, in the wake of the traveling exhibition “Race: Are We So Different?”, various communities became involved in an initiative to more deeply address the twin issues of race and racism. In Washtenaw County, beginning in 2012, in anticipation of the exhibit’s 2013 visit to the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History, a host of activities took place or were planned for the following year in several areas throughout Washtenaw County:
- A Theme Semester, featuring dozens of lectures, artistic presentations, classes, and other activities, was planned for Winter 2013 through the U of M’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
- All 10 of the County’s School Districts became involved in teacher training sessions and the arrangement of group visits for their students (grades 6 – 12.)
- The 2013 Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti “Reads” title was chosen to focus on the subject of “understanding race.”
- Starting in January 2012, the entire local community was invited to participate through planned discussions on race-related themes. In turn, these Community Conversations and activities gave rise to a number of committees and independent presentations.
- Principle among them was the creation of a special committee whose role was to work to ensure that the local community would continue to engage the issue of racial hierarchy even after all of the scheduled activities expired in the spring of 2014.
By 2014, the University-based activities had run their course, but the special committee that was created continued to exist. Today, that now independent and self-sustaining committee calls itself Washtenaw Faces Race.