Last Thursday night, 150 Charlottesville community members and I attended a panel on race relations and community development, held in reaction to the events in Ferguson, Missouri. Caught up in what I like to call my “Peyton Bubble,” I went to the event expecting to see only a few University students. I was shocked to find the room filled with both University graduates and undergraduates, professors, middle-aged couples and retirees.
I too often forget that Charlottesville is its own community – full of families, schools and congregations existing independent from the University. I have inevitably associated my time in Charlottesville with my college years, so I tend to dismiss the fact that for the majority of its 45,000 citizens, Charlottesville is a different type of “home.”
Panelist Dr. Patrice Grimes made this realization even more apparent when she noted the majority of University students do not vote in Charlottesville. As she said this, I sunk down in my seat, shamefully aware that I am one of them. If and when I am attuned to political races, I cast my vote in Richmond, partly because I’m too lazy to change my residence and partly because I don’t consider Charlottesville “home.”
But maybe it’s time I start to see things differently. As Dr. Grimes said, imagine the impact University students could have if they paid attention more fully to the affairs and concerns of the greater community. I had always thought my individual voice wouldn’t make a difference, but as Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
So how do we engender commitment among citizens? Furthermore, what does it mean to flourish as a community? After the panelists shared their brief yet poignant thoughts, the audience was buzzing with questions. As Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo put it, perhaps engaging in kind debate and respectful communication is the first step to action. Or perhaps it’s even simpler than that – perhaps it all starts with friendship.
Tracy Howe Wispelwey, director of University Ministries at the local Westminster Presbyterian Church, asked us, “Do we belong to one another?”
Community growth can only take root if we are one and the same, if we build stories of commonality and if we belong to one another. After all, how can we respect our neighbors if we don’t know them first?
In an age pushing us to be individualistic, it’s hard to step outside our bubbles. But when we do, we flourish together. As a community, we must do the work to find ourselves in other people’s stories, we must love each other simply for the sake of loving. It is only out of love that we can spur great change.
Peyton’s column runs biweekly Wednesdays. She can be reached at p.williams@cavalierdaily.com.
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