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A Georgia networking event wants to offer white people the chance to meet Black people. The “Come Meet a Black Person” event, which happens today (November 15) in Lawrenceville near Atlanta, aims to educate white people about the Black community. To be honest, it sort of just sounds like the sequel to Get Out, but we digress.
Cheryle Moses, event curator and founder of Urban MediaMakers, organized the event after a study conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute revealed almost 75 percent of white folks in the U.S. don’t have any friends of color. The 2013 study also found that the average social circle of a Black person living in America is around 83 percent Black.
So why not bridge the racial divide with a networking mixer? While the numbers may not be all that shocking and the general idea of a mixer may feel trite, Moses says she hopes to go beyond a “conversation on race” and facilitate genuine connections.
“It’s a great opportunity to start relationships,” Moses told CNN. “And if you have a relationship with somebody, you are inclined to treat them like yourself. If you don’t have that relationship, then you’ll only treat them based upon what you may have seen or read somewhere.”
Attendees can expect all the ins and outs of your typical networking social, including ID badges, food, libations, and giveaways. There will also be a “cultural” scavenger hunt to help teach attendees about the Black experience, and Moses and Urban MediaMakers will be on hand to help uncomfortable guests break the ice.
If the event goes well, Moses says she and her group will give it another go in 2018. That said, if anyone in Georgia attends, hit us up on Twitter at @CASSIUSLife_! We’re interested in seeing how it turns out.
