Cedar Rapids students learn about civil rights at Law Day

CEDAR RAPIDS - The upheaval in Baltimore and other U.S. cities in recent months might not be close to Cedar Rapids, participants in a Law Day event here said Wednesday.

But the racial tension it points to is still relevant.

'Just because it's not happening in our city doesn't mean it's not happening anywhere else,” said Mariah Robinson, a Jefferson High School junior.

The event, a version of the traditional Law Day first celebrated in 1958, focused on civil rights. It was attended by more than 200 Cedar Rapids high school students and organized by Carlos Grant, the first-year principal of Metro High School.

Grant said he hoped the day would teach students how to make happen the changes they want to see in their schools and communities.

'I think they want to make change,” he said. 'I think they just don't know how.”

Participants took part in a symbolic march from the federal courthouse to the Linn County district courthouse and listened to presentations on civil rights struggles spanning from the 1960s to the present day, from Selma, Ala. to Cedar Rapids and Baltimore. Mayor Ron Corbett and U.S. District Attorney Kevin Techau were among those who gave speeches during the day.

Students said they appreciated the chance to talk about race in a school context.

'As an African-American student, this is the kind of stuff we don't really talk a lot about in the educational system,” said Shawndell Young, a junior at Washington High School.

But African-American students still experience racism in Cedar Rapids, said Shakira Watkins, a senior at Jefferson High School.

'There's some places you can't be, or the way people will look at you, or how some white people won't interact with you just because of your color,” Watkins said. She added that Jefferson was a 'pretty good” environment when it comes to race relations.

A voter registration table was available at the back of the main hall in the Veterans Memorial Building, where most of the day's presentations were held. Grant said one of the event's goals was to increase voter registration, encouraging students to participate in local elections.

He added that he hoped to make the event annual and expand it to kindergarten through 12th-grade students in future years.

Students should be engaged even when race-related issues aren't given as much national attention, said Ruth White, one of the presenters and the executive director of the Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success, which runs a summer camp for African American students.

'When those TV shows, when that coverage dies down, then, are you going to forget?” she asked the students.