Written by Meaghan Bitters, Asst. Advertising Editor

Courageous Conversations is an event, hosted by VSU Student Planning Committee, where students and faculty get together to discuss racial problems in society.

Last Thursday, Jan.28, was their first event of the semester called, “The Path of our Narratives.”

The event began with students sharing their personal experiences with racism and how it has affected them. The first speaker talked about the importance of talking with each other about controversial topics surrounding race. Another speaker talked about her experience while choosing where to live in the process of moving to Valdosta from England. She said that white people would tell her to “choose a house in the county,” because “Valdosta City Schools are the black schools.”

Some other things that were talked about included phenomenology and racial steering, which is a type of racism where people don’t recommend living in certain areas because of the primary race of the area. It’s basically modern day segregation of neighborhoods. The point of this event is to shed light on the racism that occurs daily, despite the misconception that racism isn’t still alive in 2016.

The audience was able to respond and share their own experiences and opinions after the speakers were finished. Some people mentioned that we need to make our conversations active and do as much as we can in the community to educate people on why racism is not okay.

If you’re interested in learning and talking about racial issues in today’s society, there are a few events coming up that you may attend: “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” on Feb. 25, “Winning the Race” March 24, and “Blinded by the White” April 21 at 7p.m. in Bailey Science Center Auditorium.