By Allison Cole
Despite constitutional equality, decades of rampant unemployment,
school failures, police harassment, and daily discrimination
had turned a sense of separation and frustration into displays
of violent outrage. The U.S. in the 1960s—Right? No, this would
be France in November 2005. Triggered by the death of two Muslim
boys fleeing the police, rioting in the depressed neighborhoods
of Paris and other French cities raged for weeks. Although second
and third generation French citizens, Islamic and African minorities
of these neighborhoods are repeatedly referred to as ‘foreigners’.
One year later, discussions of the French riots, and the issue
of minority integration surfaced in St. Louis. Sigma-Aldrich
Corporation maintained operations in an inner city neighborhood
in Paris where many large riots took place. Though they’ve since
moved to a science park a half hour south of the city, the costs
in terms of business interruption and security concerns for
personnel continue to be important issues for the company. So
when St. Louis was invited to participate in a U.S. State Department
funded exchange program focusing on integration, Mike Hogan,
Sigma-Aldrich Corporation CAO and CFO, and vice president of
the World Trade Center Saint Louis Board, spoke of the riots
and the company stepped forward to try to do something about
it. Suddenly, what had happened in France was brought home to
St. Louis.
Entitled Waging Peace in our Communities, a program fielding
Franco-American city partnerships of St. Louis, Mo./Lyon; Charlotte,
N.C./Limoges; Los Angeles, Calif./Bordeaux and Louisville, Ky./Montpellier,
will spend 2007 and 2008 communicating concerns and techniques
that will eventually be developed into action plans aimed at
addressing each city’s integration issues. The program is administered
nationally by Sister Cities International, and locally in St.
Louis by the World Trade Center Saint Louis and its St. Louis/Lyon
Sister Cities Committee.
The program consists of four phases that include several exchange
visits between cities. Work began with an information-sharing
workshop among all delegations in Lyon, France in March 2007.
St. Louis delegates who traveled to France discussed the successes,
challenges and solutions they had observed and experienced in
addressing integration problems at home. Jane Robert, president
of the St. Louis/Lyon Sister Cities Committee, attended the
March conference and said it was helpful to see all the delegates
recognizing that their problems are not simply their own, but
are similar to problems in other places around the world.
Other delegates had the same sentiment. Susan Powers, St. Louis/Lyon
Committee Board member and Waging Peace lead delegate, says
it was evident during the conference that the United States
and French delegates had more in common than not. “We see that
there’s a real desire to tackle the issues rather than just
address them,” Powers says. Anna Crosslin, delegate and CEO
of the International Institute, says it was very interesting
to be part of such a diverse group united to discuss common
issues that had been dealt with differently by different cultures.
Dave Stoecklin, delegate and executive director of Workforce
Development in Madison County, Ill., referred to the March trip
to Lyon as giving him a new perspective on the problems and
possible solutions within the St. Louis region.
Already ideas are beginning to take hold. “For me Waging Peace
is about awareness and the actions that awareness leads us to,”
says Jerry Paul, a Waging Peace delegate and president and CEO
of the Deaconess Foundation. Joel Glassman, a Waging Peace delegate
and director for the Center for International Studies at the
University of Missouri – St. Louis, believes two local benefits
may come from the Waging Peace project: the St. Louis region
can collect ideas from the French regarding how to handle Waging
Peace, and the program can help enhance coordination among concerned
parties within St. Louis.
Some St. Louis delegates say the Waging Peace project will help
St. Louis better examine its issues surrounding the disadvantaged.
Karen Aroesty, delegate and regional director for the St. Louis
Anti-Defamation League, says this project forces St. Louis and
Sister Cities to be honest about issues within the city surrounding
race and immigration reform. Vincent Heier, a Waging Peace delegate
and director of Ecumenical and Interfaith with the St. Louis
Archdiocese, echoes Glassman’s thoughts, expressing that St.
Louis’ communication with other communities can be helpful in
looking at the city’s strengths and weaknesses. “A program like
this will help us open our eyes to problems, strengths and advantages
in our community,” Heier says.
Delegates are finding that the types of communication channels
opened through a program such as Waging Peace can be very beneficial
to overcoming the issues and problems of their city. Gary Dollar,
a delegate and president/CEO of United Way of Greater St. Louis,
says receiving a different viewpoint will open minds to new
ways of handling situations and can ultimately help lead delegates
in a new direction. Similarly, Don Wolff, a Waging Peace delegate
and attorney, believes all parties involved benefit from the
sharing of ideas and information on both successful and unsuccessful
ventures. “It is important that people who share similar problems
dialogue and work together to solve them,” Wolff says. In addition,
John Wright, delegate and retired school administrator, says
it is always helpful to learn from other places. “We don’t have
all the answers,” Wright says. “What we can do is share and
learn from our mistakes.”
The next major phase of the Waging Peace process will occur
this month when Lyon delegates visits St. Louis. According to
Powers, the September exchange will include dialog and visits
to area events, organizations and locations currently implementing
integration programs. Session highlights will include a presentation
by University of Missouri – St. Louis Professor Terry Jones
and Focus St. Louis Executive Director and delegate Chris Chadwick
on “Why St. Louis is the Way it Is.” Crosslin will discuss the
St. Louis immigrant experience. Delegates will take part in
Jobs Plus ’07, a regional job fair that involves the cooperation
of local governments, businesses and social services agencies
at the Gateway Convention Center in Collinsville, Ill. They
will also see the Wellston Enterprise Center and hear Denny
Coleman, president and CEO of the St. Louis County Economic
Council, talk about the intergovernmental cooperation involved
in this comprehensive redevelopment project.
St. Louis Delegates are excited for the upcoming exchange. Chadwick
says the approach to this upcoming exchange has been to listen
and learn, and to show the French delegates what is working
in St. Louis. She says it is important to be candid about the
challenges that St. Louis and its delegates have faced in relation
to helping the disadvantaged integrate into society. She calls
the next two years an evolutionary process to create a working
project. Powers says she hopes participants will create long
lasting and sustainable relationships, both personally and professionally,
with those involved.
Hogan describes the overall point of Waging Peace to be about
hearing real world examples of what works and does not work
in helping integrate the disadvantaged into society. Hogan is
looking forward to the September conference and believes it
will be very helpful to all who attend. “It is great when you
get people talking across cultures,” Hogan says. “No bad can
come from that, and hopefully good will.”
Sal Sutera, a delegate and Washington University professor,
calls the program a significant project for St. Louis Sister
Cities programs and citizen involvement in civic activities;
thoughts echoed by other Waging Peace delegates such as Saint
Louis University professor M. Waheed Rana. Rana believes that
peace cannot be achieved with bias. “If we know our prejudice,
then we can control it,” Rana says. He believes that controlling
it, with the assistance of programs such as Waging Peace, will
create the best outcome for society and the community.
To date, St. Louis has received matching fund donations from
Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, the Deaconess Foundation and the
Jane M. and Bruce P. Robert Foundation.
The St. Louis/Lyon Sister Cities Committee continues to actively
seek funding from others committed to furthering a more integrated
St. Louis. For more information on Waging Peace, The World Trade
Center Saint Louis and its St. Louis Sister Cities Program,
please call (314) 615-8141.
Waging Peace in our Communities
Thursday through Saturday
September 20-22
Meet the Delegates
Public Reception
Thursday, September 20, 5 to 7 p.m.
Square One Brewery, Lafayette Square
For more information, call (314) 615-8141
