Walking Each Other Home

Ian Mayer Arizona Daily Wildcat Producer/ Director Lee Mun Wah leads a discussion about race relations and understanding last night in the Arizona Ballroom in the Memorial Student Union. Following the dialogue, the audience had an opportunity to experience Lee Mun Wah's new film "Walking Each Other Home" four months before its release.

"Walking Each Other Home" explores in depth the struggles in the relationships between eight different men of varying ethnicities. Two Latinos, two African Americans, two Asian Americans and two of European descent are seated together in one room as they address issues concerning racism. Interestingly, the minority groups were immediately aggressive toward the white men in the room, making comments implying that the white men had not yet understood the feelings of the racial stereotypes Latinos, African Americans and Asians have had to deal with.

After viewing the film, Keith Riordan, chemistry junior and resident assistant at Manzanita-Mohave, stated: "I had opportunities in the past where I could have said something and didn't. I see now I have not helped the problem. Now, I see how I can make a difference."

Nationally acclaimed for his previous film, "The Color of Fear," which was first introduced on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Lee Mun Wah was a teacher at a junior high school before turning to filmmaking. But it took something incredibly shocking to finally force him to sit down and face the racial problems that had directly affected his life.

On Jan. 31, 1985, Wah's mother was shot five times in the head by an African American male. From that moment on, his entire life changed. His views on African Americans were impacted. The stereotypes his father had held about them all came back to him. He had always thought that he wasn't a racist, but he came to realize that he was a recovering racist. Coincidentally, his father was the one who taught him how to unlearn racism.

The workshop that followed the film was a reality check for many people. The characters portrayed in the film were representative of the people in the Arizona Ballroom. In introducing his film, Wah stated that "it will shock you, hurt you and make you feel uncomfortable. Hopefully, it will spur you to take some action."

There are millions of people out there in the world who need to experience this workshop or one like it. Cecilia Lou, Assistant Dean of Asian Pacific American Student affairs and coordinator for this program, said "we need to have a continuing dialogue amongst ourselves all the time, not just one night."

Lou also pointed out that "this workshop was not diversity training, it was just an experience. You don't get it until you're in it."

Mina Lee, political science junior, said she believes "the UA community needs more programs like this, supported and funded by administration. I hope that President Likins truly looks into these types of programs and really tries to understand that students really do care about diversity issues."

This seminar made us question and take a look at ourselves and how we've been victims of racism as well as contributors to the causes of it. It's important to look at these issues of high impact and assess how you can become a healthier person by confronting the issue, as awkward as it may be.

No one really knows what the actual cure for racism will be, or even if there is a single way to deal with it. But there are some theories. Wah suggests we "stop sitting next to the people who are just like you. Everyone needs to understand that for the rest of their lives they are recovering racists and that's not horrible."