Author Tim Wise delivers talk on race to standing-room only crowd at Toledo's Woodward High School

9/12/2013
BLADE STAFF
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    Anti-racist author, educator, and essayist Tim Wise speaks during a community forum on racism Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013, at Woodward High School in Toledo, Ohio. The event was sponsored by the Toledo Community Coalition and The Blade.

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    • Anti-racist author, educator, and essayist Tim Wise speaks during a community forum on racism Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013, at Woodward High School in Toledo, Ohio. The event was sponsored by the Toledo Community Coalition and The Blade.
    Anti-racist author, educator, and essayist Tim Wise speaks during a community forum on racism Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013, at Woodward High School in Toledo, Ohio. The event was sponsored by the Toledo Community Coalition and The Blade.

    Author and activist Tim Wise called for residents to explore and examine institutional racism at a forum tonight at Woodward High School.

    The overflow crowd packed the school auditorium, which seats 575 people.

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    Mr. Wise urged residents attending the community forum, co-sponsored by the Blade and the Toledo Community Coalition, to "look beneath the surface even when it's difficult."

    He pointed out discriminatory practices in education and the criminal justice system.

    "We inherit the legacy of everything that has come before," said the Nashville author.

    The event is the launch of a wider community initiative to combat racism, change minds and lives. It includes small study groups and other city-wide efforts.