SCC explores the fault line between race and property ownership with series of events this fall

Published: 09/09/2015

SCC will host a series of events that aims to educate students and the community about race related issues and how they impact our decision making in choosing a place to live. 

Presented for the first time to the St. Louis region in nearly three years, SCC will present Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning play Clybourne Park Sept. 30-Oct. 3. 

Clybourne Park spans two generations – 50 years apart. In 1959, Russ and Bev are selling their house, unknowingly bringing the first black family into the neighborhood. In 2009, the same property is being bought by a young white couple, whose plan to raze the house and start again is met with equal disapproval by the black residents of the soon-to-be-gentrified area.

“Clybourne Park forces audience members to examine the role that race plays in real estate transactions,” said Heather Rodgers, SCC professor of English.

In addition to the play, SCC will host panel discussions as part of SCC Democracy Days on the topic that highlight perspectives from numerous academic disciplines – psychology, health, history, real estate and more – and will include the play’s cast and director.  

“Panel discussions allow students and community members to partake in professional discourse about often sensitive and controversial topics – such as our individual perception of race and ethnicity,” said Mara Vorachek-Warren, SCC associate professor of chemistry. 

The first panel discussion will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 14 and will be a discussion led by the SCC cast and director Tracy Bono. 

SCC faculty will examine the play’s themes and ramifications of race and ethnicity on our society and selves during the second panel discussion set for 11 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16.

“Panelists will pull from their personal and academic backgrounds when they question, answer and discuss the play and the societal issues it uncovers,” Vorachek-Warren said.

For more information about the Clybourne Park, visit stchas.edu/centerstage. For more information about the panel discussion or a full listing of Democracy Days events, contact mkuelker@stchas.edu.