Published: October 7, 2002
JAMES
BYRD JR. RACISM ORAL HISTORY
PROJECT COMPLETES 120 INTERVIEWS ON
RACISM IN AMERICA
LAUNCHES JASPER TEXAS PROJECT
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The James Byrd Jr. Foundation for Racial Healing announced that it will open a Jasper, Texas office for one of its projects, the James Byrd Jr. Racism Oral History Project. The oral history project has completed 120 interviews nationwide on ‘race in America’. The Jasper project will open its doors on October 1, 2002.
The President of the Byrd Foundation, Clara Byrd Taylor, sister of James Byrd Jr., announced that Lani Silver, the director of the oral history project will lead a training session in Jasper for new interviewers and volunteers on September 30. Silver will also lead two two assemblies at Jasper High School. Taylor says "We’ve seen that when people talk about their experiences with racism, it has a healing effect and they become more aware of race issues in America."
"It is astonishing and appalling that in the year 2002, racism remains so pervasive," says Silver. "The Foundation and our new initiative was created in response to one of the most extreme demonstrations of racism that our country has seen in recent years."
Silver will travel to Jasper Texas to lead a training session for interviewers and volunteers which is schedule for September 30 at 7:00 in the City Council Chambers. Other trainers include: Julie Webb of the Jasper Newsboy, Betty Byrd Boatner, Father Ron Fosage, and Dr. Joseph R. Palmer.
The James Byrd Jr. Foundation for Racial Healing was established in 1998, following the gruesome death of Byrd, who was chained to a truck and dragged through an unincorporated area of East Texas, along Huff Creek Road, right outside of Jasper Texas. Three white supremacists were convicted of one of the worst hate-crimes in American history.
The Foundation’s goal is to gain knowledge about racism in the world, and encourage people to have more compassion for each other. The oral histories are meant to help researchers better understand the dynamics of racism and hate crimes and will also serve as a memorial to victims of racism. The Foundation is one of the leading national organizations involved with racial healing.
"We’re very
proud to begin this venture," says Mary Verrett, another sister of
James Byrd Jr., and member of the Byrd Foundation Advisory Board. "We
feel we are playing a small role in reducing racism in the world, scholars
and researchers will learn a lot through our interviews."
Interested persons are asked to participate in this project by submitting
an audio or videotape on how racism has impacted their life. Volunteers
and donors are needed to help with this project. Volunteers are needed
to staff its two its two offices, in San Francisco and Jasper; conduct
interviews, do outreach to community groups, and speak to organizations
and classes. Help is needed with fund-raising and hate-crimes research.
The project works with the San Francisco Unified School District and the
School of Social Work at San Francisco State University.
Silver, a Holocaust oral historian who has conducted l700 oral histories in the past two decades, was also Steven Spielberg’s first consultant for his Shoah Foundation for Visual Testimonies.
For more information on the James Byrd Jr. Racism Oral History Project, or to request a brochure, please write to P.O. Box 27333; San Francisco, CA 94127 or call (415) 415-485-4208. The oral history project can be reached at Byrdproject@aol.com. If you would like to reach the Byrd Foundation for Racial Healing write to: 12180 Greenpoint Drive, PMB #244, Houston Texas 77060. You can e-mail the Foundation at Byrdfound@juno.com or call (888) 856-6414.
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