Danville’s Progress on Race and Renewal
Two recent experiences provided satisfaction and brought back memories of friends, partners, and shared work that continues to pay off for Danville, Virginia, a community in which Nancy and I spent nearly seven of the most important years of our careers. First, the Washington Post reported about very positive progress in social justice and race relations realms in “Reckoning in a small town: Civil War meets civil rights in the ‘Last Capital of the Confederacy’” (https://wapo.st/32NHCC4). Second, Nancy and I visited Danville last week and continue to be deeply heartened by the spirit and tangible progress in its economic renewal efforts. With persistent and inspiring leadership, Danville and its surrounding region have transformed a mill town in decline into an attractive, diverse, modern community strengthened and, yet, poised for even bigger leaps in the coming years.
In 2001, when I arrived in Danville as the founding executive director of the nascent Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR), one of the first things I noticed was the informal separation of civic organizations by race. With economic transformation at the forefront of my agenda, I recognized this circumstance to be an obstacle to attracting 21st Century businesses. After a Rotary meeting, I had the chance to visit with Sherman Saunders, who became Danville’s mayor (2008-2016) and whose picture graced the aforementioned Post article. Sherman was the only black in the room, as I recall, and, after the meeting, I took the opportunity to ask his advice about how to make sure the new institution I would lead served ALL of the citizens of the region.
We spoke in the parking lot for over an hour. It was the beginning a wonderful partnership and great friendship. Sherman offered sage advice on engaging the black community and paved the way for my outreach to many of the area’s important African American leaders. Before leaving, Sherman asked me for advice on working well with the elite private business leaders who were the political force behind the IALR’s development to which I replied, “I outwork them…that is how I always succeed.” We laughed hard at my braggadocio but that simple phrase became a mantra held between us throughout our shared work of the 2001-2007 period.
Nancy and I have mentioned in a case study (https://www.franklinsolutions.org/case-studies/case-study-regional-transformation) the development of SCALE-UP, the non-profit that came out of this work. Sherman and I, along with SCALE-UP’s formal leadership, shared the belief that more trust was needed to bring the races together and that trust would be better fostered through shared effort than by merely talking about racial issues. This leadership group also recognized that in addition to social justice as a rationale, better race relations would have the pragmatic value of providing Danville with the posture of being open for global business in a world driven by talent rather than racial and class divides. This posture put the white and black leadership shoulder to shoulder working together for the economic renewal of their shared home.
It was a winning combination with members of SCALE UP joining the IALR, Dan River Foundation, and Future of the Piedmont boards, providing representation in critical and strategic organizations within Danville’s redevelopment efforts. More than ever, black leaders had a seat at the table.
As the Post article outlines, much progress has occurred since those days nearly two decades ago. Many others have contributed both before and after. However, I cannot resist giving a shout out for my old friend Sherman Saunders. He has served. He has led. He has broken barriers. He has persisted. Most of all, though, he has outworked them!!! And Danville is a better place because of it!
We have for a long time hesitated to adopt and carry out the only principle which can solve that difficulty and give peace, strength and security to the republic, and that is the principle of absolute equality. We are a country of all extremes, ends and opposites; the most conspicuous example of composite nationality in the world. Our people defy all the ethnological and logical classifications. In races we range all the way from black to white, with intermediate shades which, as in the apocalyptic vision, no man can name or number.
-Frederick Douglass, Our Composite Nationality, 1869