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The Blount County Anti-Racism Task Force was formed in the spring of 2005 in response to events at William Blount High School and the La Lupita store.

In the year since, three committees of the all-volunteer organization, — Education, Government and Religion — have been working to ensure everyone in Blount County is treated with dignity and respect.

"We were looking for ways to encourage our local governments to participate in our efforts," said Doug Gamble, coordinator of the Task Force's Government Committee. "The Race Relations Center of East Tennessee suggested we take a look at the programs of the National League of Cities.

"The city of Maryville and the city of Alcoa are members of the NLC, so the Task Force's Government Committee asked the city governments to consider joining the Inclusive Communities initiative of the National League of Cities."

Both the Maryville City Council and the Alcoa City Council passed resolutions joining the Partnership for Working Toward Inclusive Communities. The resolutions express each city's commitment to inclusion and pledge active efforts to seek to achieve that goal.

Both city councils also declared the week of Sept. 25–29 to be "Race Equality and Inclusive Communities Week." With these actions, Maryville and Alcoa joined Nashville as Tennessee cities participating in the NLC program.

Over the coming year the Task Force plans to work with the two city governments to identify activities in fulfillment of their pledges.

"We will also be looking for ways to support the Blount County government in taking similar steps," Gamble said.

Support Line launch

Over the past year, the Anti-Racism Task Force's Education Committee met with representatives of the Maryville, Alcoa and Blount County school systems and held discussions with community members. Education Committee co-coordinator Lee Davis said exchanging information and identifying shared goals led to development of the Support Line.

"We in the community may hear about incidents that are not reported to the schools, and we want to facilitate dialogue and resolution with school personnel," Davis said.

The Support Line, sponsored by the Blount County Ecumenical Action Council, is intended to be a resource for students and parents to report incidents of harassment and discrimination.

A team of trained responders will inform callers of policies and reporting procedures in each school system, make referrals as appropriate, encourage students and parents to meet with school personnel and offer to accompany them to meetings.

All three school systems have expressed interest in working with the Support Line to ensure safety and respect for students in their schools. The Support Line is not yet operational but will be launched soon.

Interfaith initiatives

The Anti-Racism Task Force's Religion Committee has been initiating and supporting inter-faith activities. The Committee invited area clergy to participate in community observations of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in February and hosted the successful second annual Race Unity Day on June 24 at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Alcoa. Planning is under way for an Interfaith Thanksgiving Service the week of Nov. 20.

"There is more openness and awareness about the diverse leadership available in our community," said Sue Wyatt, a member of the Anti-Racism Task Force's Religion Committee. "When we have opportunities to spend time together we learn more about each other and become more comfortable working together."