Do minorities face inequalities in housing, education, criminal justice and health care?

While it’s a widely held belief that minorities face discrimination in all these areas, a September conference in Huntsville, which will include Limestone County representatives, seeks to find remedies.

“Better Together: A Conference on Race,” will be held Sept. 10 and 11 at the Redstone Federal Training Center, according to Joyce Maples of the University of Alabama in Huntsville marketing office.

UAH is a sponsor, as well as Calhoun Community College, Oakwood College, Alabama A&M University and the Interfaith Mission Service. Other sponsors include The Huntsville Times, The Racial Harmony Coalition, Kudzu Productions, MagnaVista Group, city of Huntsville and Phoenix.

“This has been two years in the making,” said Maples. “This is the real brainchild of Kenny Anderson, a sociology instructor at Calhoun College and is in response to a survey sent out two years ago.”

Anderson could not be contacted at his Calhoun office Friday.

Maples said the Redstone Federal Training Center has seating for 200, so if registration exceeds that, the conference will be moved to the UAH University Center, which seats 525.

Hate groups increasing

In the broader aspect of the country’s racial climate, organizers say the conference is spurred by a Southern Poverty Law Center report that identified 888 organized hate groups in the United States, which is a 48-percent increase since 2000. The increase in hate groups includes white supremacists, neo-Nazis, anti-immigrant extremists and anti-gay groups, among others.

Closer to home, the overflow crowd protesting a public housing project in South Huntsville in April brought to the surface prevailing racial fears.

“The Racial Harmony Committee believes that accurate information about the reality of racial disparities and common values are desperately needed to inform these discussions,” states the Better Together Conference Web site.

Noted speakers