Racism in our country and community is usually thought of in terms of negative white attitudes toward African Americans and/or other minorities.  While racism also works the other way around, the most pervasive dynamic is white versus black. It is the result of numbers, and history.  In slavery, racism was codified. Following emancipation and reconstruction it was practiced through state and local Jim Crow laws which perpetuated segregation for generations.  As they were eroded, whites had to “get used” to real integration.  In St. Louis, sometimes called one of the, if not the , most racially polarized city in America how do St. Louis whites view racism today? Political scientist Terry Jones of the University of Missouri-St. Louis has studied the issue. Margaret Freivogel, the editor of the St. Louis Beacon online newspaper has edited a comprehensive series of reports on racism in St. Louis. Nikki Weinstein of FOCUS St. Louis represents a civic organization which seeks positive change through developing leadership, influencing policy, and promoting community connections. FOCUS has sponsored a series of studies on racial polarization in St. Louis.

Listen to the episode:

Contributors:

Margaret Freivogel, editor of the St. Louis Beacon

Nikki Weinstein of FOCUS St. Louis

Professor Terry Jones, University of Missouri St. Louis

Additional information about this episode:

Article: "Healing the Racial Divide"

Article: "Race in the Age of Obama"

St. Louis Beacon's "Race, Frankly" series

FOCUS St. Louis organization website

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About the Project:

With this collection of archived interviews of St. Louis on the Air, we present an oral history of civil rights, the black experience, and race relations in St. Louis from 1847 to 2010.

Additional Resources:

The Beacon's Race Frankly Series:
An on-going community discussion around progress being made on the subject of race in the St. Louis metro area.

Eyes on the Prize:
A documentary from PBS's American Experience

FOCUS St. Louis project: Bridges Across Racial Polarization:
Get to know people whom you might not otherwise meet.

Missouri History Museum exhibit, Race: Are We So Different?
Learn the history of race, the role of science in that history, and the subtle and obtrusive expressions of race and racism in institutions and daily lives.

NAACP:
The nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization.

Southern Poverty Law Center:
A nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society.