by Cherie Duvall

Exclusivity in America has come a long way since the Selma to Montgomery marches in Alabama during the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Unfortunately, it hasn?t come far enough, according to students from two high schools who are determined to continue to make a difference.

Thanks to the perseverance of NLC President James Hunt, councilmember of Clarksburg, W.Va., James Perkins Jr., mayor of Selma and Bennie Ruth Crenshaw, councilwoman of Selma?s Ward 7 district, seven students from Selma High School, a predominately black school, and six students from Clarksburg?s Liberty High School, a predominately white school, were able to begin a dialogue addressing the impact of racism and intolerance in their communities. This discussion took place during the Congressional City Conference in Washington, D.C., earlier this month.

?Our goal is to provide other high schools with a blueprint that will lead to acceptance, help us treasure our diversity and live in harmony,? explained Kate Turner, a junior at Liberty High School and a youth leader for the school?s civil rights program.

Though the 13 students participated in the conference as youth delegates ? youth age 15 to 18 years old from around the country who participated in workshops and general sessions at the conference ? their plenary meeting took place during a special session that was facilitated by Kathie Novak, mayor of Northglenn, Colo. Novak, an advocate of early childhood development, who helped her city kick off early childhood planning efforts last year.

Getting to the meat of the problem of exclusiveness, Novak questioned the youth about what kind of changes they would like to see in their cities and in communities across the country 10 years from now. The answer was unanimous: ending stereotypes of all kinds.

?Stereotypes of each race come from not knowing about other cultures,? said Anthony Robinson, a junior at Selma High School. ?True integration is about not having stereotypes.?

Cultural uniformity was also discussed. Coming from schools that don?t have much ethnic diversity, the students? journey to Washington, D.C., was an eye opener to what characteristics they would like more schools and cities to have.

?[A fellow Clarksburg student] and I were walking yesterday and we were talking about how we wish it could be as culturally diverse everywhere as it is in D.C.,? said Turner.

Further in the discussion, the youth determined that one reason people grow up excluding people of other cultures, faiths and sexual orientations is because of how they were raised. They agreed that parents are children?s first teachers of inclusiveness, therefore ?children should be the first targets of change,? said Brandon Hogan, a freshman at Selma High School.

But change was also happening during the meeting of the 13 students. Not only did the youth realize how similar they are to each other, they also determined that they too have the power to make a difference.

?You are the most powerful constituency that we work for and when the youth of America stand up and speak, you can change the direction of this country,? Perkins revealed to the students.

Together, the high school students came up with some action plans that their schools and schools around the United States can follow to make a difference in their communities. Their ideas included putting on skits to teach elementary school students about inclusiveness, starting an exchange program to help students from different schools learn about the lives of youth outside of their cities, and having schools develop websites that give students different information about schools and provide a way for students of different cities to communicate.

Wrapping up the session, the courageous students from Selma and Clarksburg realized that they got even more out of their conference experience than helping build inclusive communities. They also would be carrying with them a sense of personal accomplishment and enlightenment.

?No matter what happens, we can walk away with this experience,? said Eric Robey, a junior at Liberty High School. ?I?ll always remember this in my heart.?

This gathering of both schools came at the helm of Hunt?s Partnership for Working Toward Inclusive Communities. The program encourages and celebrates local efforts to promote equal opportunity and fairness as well as citizen participation and engagement.

To keep the ball rolling with the students? ideas on creating community inclusiveness, Hunt said that Novak is preparing a report on the session and the agreed-upon outcomes. The report will be presented to potential financial backers to assist in the implementation of these plans.

?The major goal will be to develop a sustainable model that can be used by other schools throughout the country,? Hunt emphasized. ?I believe that the idea of an exchange between the schools is the cornerstone to the project. This will put a real face on the schools and lead to the development of the additional communication models.?

Robinson feels that he also gained an additional benefit from his trip to D.C.

?Now if I go to West Virginia for vacation, I have some West Virginia friends to visit.?

Details: To date, six cities have joined the Partnership for Working Toward Inclusive Communities: Clarksburg; Selma; Atlanta; Bluffton, Ind.; Little Rock, Ark.; and Moorhead, Minn.

For more information on the partnership or to download the program?s tool kit, go to the Inclusive Communities link on NLC?s home page at www.nlc.org.