Hidden
in plain viEw Diversity Engagement Coalition aims to dismantle institutional racism
STORY BY CamEROn HunTlEY pHOTOS BY CinDY KunST
CoMe ToGeTher: The WNC Diversity
Engagement Coalition includes representatives from a host of major employers and organizations in the region — all with the goal of starting “a conversation that would lead to efforts supporting greater diversity.” Coalition members include, left to right: Sheneika Smith, Lisa Eby, Jacquelyn Hallum, Frank Castelblanco, Michele Ashley and Sarah Nuñez.
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aPRiL 30 - maY 6 , 2014
mountainx.com
The door Stroll down the east side of Biltmore Avenue from Pack Square and you’ll soon encounter the Fine Arts Theatre. Perhaps you’ll go in, watch a movie, go home. Maybe you’ll discuss its themes and mise en scène, or dismiss it as pretentious nonsense. But odds are you won’t even have noticed the door. It’s inconspicuous, hidden in plain view to the left of the main entrance. There’s no knob, and it’s painted the same color as the alcove it sits in. On the right is a small ticket window, long since fallen out of use. These days it’s just the theater’s emergency exit. “That was the entrance black people had to use during segregation,” says frank castelblanco of MAHEC. It’s late in the evening, and the WNC Diversity Engagement Coalition’s social at Pack’s Tavern is winding down. A group of concerned residents have been discussing ways to create and foster a more diverse community and workforce. Now only a few stragglers remain. “Yep,” says Castelblanco. “It leads to the upstairs seating area.” “Shoot, I had to use it,” says Jacquelyn Hallum of MAHEC, absently pushing a chicken wing around her plate with a fork. “They used to call it the peanut gallery.”
“You had to use the ... uh ... African-American entrance?” I ask. Hallum howls with laughter. “I don’t know about an African-American entrance. I had to use the Negro entrance, though.” The exclusionary history of Asheville is not only long and complex: It’s still with us. Sure, it’s mostly hidden, but not out of any sinister motive — in the 21st century, our attention is simply elsewhere. In a city that prides itself on being progressive, the people gathered here (including representatives from six of the county’s biggest employers) believe a Diversity Engagement Coalition is very much needed. And it’s curious that no one seems to know about that door.
STark diSpariTieS “Racism still persists,” says deborah miles, executive director of The Center for Diversity Education at UNC Asheville. “Political correctness hasn’t solved our biases: It’s just pulled a veil over them, made them private. We haven’t dealt with the biases, just hidden them; and that means people act on those unconscious biases. But many people just don’t know: They don’t realize. Once you’re aware, there are remedies.” Institutional racism runs on systemic paradigms, unintentional biases and subtle underpin-