SALISBURY — The Salisbury Human Relations Council is offering 100 area residents the opportunity to participate in an online Racial Wealth Gap Simulation on Monday, April 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

 

The simulation is offered in conjunction with the Come to the Table program of RAFI-USA — the Rural Advancement Foundation International.

An interactive tool, the simulation helps people understand the connections among racial equity, hunger, poverty and wealth.

It is considered a good first step for people unaware of structural inequality, a support tool for those who want a deeper understanding of such inequality, and a source of information for experts who want to know the quantifiable economic impact of each policy that has widened today’s racial hunger, income, and wealth divides.

In the simulation, participants learn how federal policies affected structural inequalities — for example, in property ownership and education — and how these policies increase hunger and poverty in communities of color.

The simulation guides participants to an understanding of why racial equity is so important to ending hunger and poverty in the United States.

The Rev. Olen Bruner of Salisbury, retired pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church, says the simulation should help participants learn about the need to begin equitable changes in government policies. He cites the words of Charlotte filmmaker Bree Newsome: “Our nation faces a fork in the road and a decision to either continue down the same path of systemic racism or confront our past honestly.”

 

Registration for the free simulation ends on April 24. Sign up at https://racial-wealth-gap-simulation.aiwaapp.com/.