Joyce Fountain and her Sociology 209 class did Elgin Community College a great service on Thursday, Nov. 17 by hosting “I’m Not Racist But…” in the Spartan auditorium. The event was an all-inclusive forum for both students and faculty to discuss racism, stereotypes, and prejudice. Largely fueled by students of the class, skits, video presentations and interactive dialogue were few of the vehicles employed to bring light to such significant topics as the very history of racism in America.

As expressed by both Professor Fountain and her class, the humble and most immediate goal of the event was simply to start conversation, “open some eyes” and maybe even “change some minds” along the way.

Fountain remarked in detail on the commitment and hard work of her students, she called them the “dream team” as it was ultimately their will that made the event a success. While many took time outside of class to rehearse, others fought through nerves to rise up for a cause they truly believed in. Every student from the class participated, no role seen as too big or small, they all played an important part in the cohesion of the presentation. They stand testament to what can be accomplished a group of driven individuals hoping to educate and bring change to their community.

A diverse crowd of over 150 faces of all races, genders and ages was present. Students, teachers, even whole classes brought by their respective professors found themselves filling the auditorium to its brim. The atmosphere was no less electric than one would expect with heated discussions and as one of Fountain’s students claimed,”uncomfortable faces.”  Make no mistake because those faces were more than welcome. At its core, the initiative of the “I’m Not Racist But…” event was to startle, excite, anger and simply illicit any emotion in the audience as a means to spark the very necessary conversation surrounding racism. The students were glad to see this reaction and regarded it as a sign of their success. According to them, too often are the very important conversations of racism and the like, neglected. Here was a chance for all of those forgotten messages to be once again heard by the masses that choose to ignore them.