Race and racism have played a divisive and defining role throughout much of America's history. Slavery, Jim Crow laws, segregation, and Ku Klux Klan terrorism have inflicted deep psychic wounds, social disparities, and economic disadvantages that have diminished the promise of equal rights and opportunities for all. While much progress in race relations has been made in recent years—including the election of Barack Obama as President of the United State—it's clear that our journey to a post-racial era is far from complete. In virtually every measurable category, whether income levels, job opportunities, access to health care, life expectancy, high school diplomas, incarceration rates, do not fare well compared to their white counterparts. The dialogue entitled Race and Reconciliation in America was convened to provide a forum for a long overdue, open, honest, and constructive discussion among people of good will about the need for the American people to truly grasp the depth of past misdeeds, why the legacies of past oppression persist, and how we can achieve a more fair and just society embodied in the American Dream.

Contributions by: Enola Gay Aird, Adele Logan Alexander, James Allen, Tom Allen, Bernard Bergreen, Douglas Blackmon, Katrina Brown, Krista Buccellato, Lonnie Bunch, Deepak Chopra, Gail Christopher, Nancy Clair, Chuck Conconi, John Connolly, Stephen Cropper, Jason Dean, Debbie Dingell, Jan Smith-Donaldson, Sam Donaldson, Maria Echaveste, Christopher Edley, Mary Farrell, Raul Fernandez, Patricia Finneran, Badi Foster, LaToya Foster, D'Angelo Gardner, Helene Gayle, Louis Gossett, Kevin Gover, Marc Grossman, Tammy Haddad, Roger Hambrick, Elyas Harris, Dorothy Height, Zelda Heller, Shmuel Herzfeld, Fred Hochberg, Murray Horwitz, Noel Ignatiev, Bruce Jacobs, Jim Jones, The Honorable Henry Kennedy, Joe Klein, Jay Lavender, Reta Lewis, The Honorable John Lewis, Michael Liberty, Joe Madison, Sharon Malone, Marlon Marshall, Robbie McCauley, Alexis McGill, Peggy McIntosh, Sgt Maj. Alford McMichael, Natalie Moody, Dawn Moore, Joy Moore, Minyon Moore, Westley Moore, Beverly Morgan-Welch, Judith Mowry, Marilyn Ordover, Joshua Packwood, Jennifer Pardo, Richard North Patterson, Erica Payne, Colette Phillips, Mark Planning, Sally Quinn, Stephanie Robinson, Amanda Sage, David Schoen, William Smith, Gerald Talbot, Robert Talbot, Marc Titus, Rev