Orange Organizing Against Racism and the Racial Equity Institute are holding a “Groundwater” presentation this Sunday at 2:30pm at the Kehillah Synagogue in Chapel Hill.

Groundwater presentations are participatory in nature and focus on the systemic and structural aspects of racism.

Wanda Hunter of Orange Organizing Against Racism compares racism affecting systems such as the government and economics to groundwater spreading to lakes and rivers.

“Racism is in the groundwater of our nation,” says Hunter. “It is feeding all of the institutional lakes, and it’s a cross-system problem, so when you ask who should come, we think everyone should come because we’re all connected to systems.”

This type of institutional racism is what the Racial Equity Institute focuses on over individual bigotry because, Hunter says, racism will always exist as long as it exists in our institutions.

“We could take all those bigots and shoot them to the moon and racism would still be alive and well in this country because the kind of racism that causes the inequities in systems that we talk about is not caused by bigots, it’s not caused by the bad apples, it’s caused by the normal people,” says Hunter. “And we don’t even know how we’re doing it.”

Helping to organize this Groundwater training presentation is April Richard of the Orange County Health Department, who attended the Racial Equity Institutes’ Historical and Institutional Foundations in Racism workshop along with the rest of her department.

Richard has been helping to inculcate the health department with the institute’s teachings.

“Everyone comes to the table with a prejudice or a bias,” says Richard. “One of the things we’ve really been spending some time on is looking at how that bias has manifested itself in how we work with our clients.”

Richard says that attending racial equity training has helped her and the rest of the staff not let those inherent biases affect the way that they treat their clients.

“You really have to bring this conversation back home,” says Richard. “It’s hard to admit, to sit back and say, ‘I hold some bias myself.’”

For more information on the Groundwater presentations or on the Racial Equity Institute visit racialequityinstitute.org.

Related Stories
‹
Chapel Hill, Carrboro Community Members Advocate for Racial Justice in Education System
Community members of all ages gathered at the Arts Center Plaza in Carrboro for a Black Lives Matter demonstration organized by three local students with a focus on addressing racist systems in education. Organizers based the event, which began with hundreds of participants kneeling for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in silence to honor George Floyd, […]
Orange County Arts Community Set for Uproar Festival Despite Recent Flood Damage
Orange County's Uproar Festival of Public Art returns on Aug. 1 – and it comes as the arts community recovers from catastrophic flooding.
Chapel Hill Approves Rezoning for Greene Tract Site, Hears Next Steps for Development
The Chapel Hill Town Council is making progress on developing the Greene Tract, meeting in June to rezone part of the site. 
Days After Historic Rain, Chapel Hill and Durham Under Another Flash Flood Warning
Many areas of Orange County, Chatham County and the rest of central North Carolina are again under a flash flood warning on Wednesday.
'We Need Help': Orange County Flood Victims Beginning to Pick Up the Pieces
Orange County residents whose homes were flooded during Sunday's storm shared their emotions and what help they need in the aftermath.
Celebration of July 4 to Alter Local Government Services in Orange County
The celebration of Independence Day on Friday, July 4 will affect several local government services in and around Orange County. Here’s a look at what will and won’t be happening that week: Town of Chapel Hill All Chapel Hill administrative offices will be closed Friday. Residential trash pickup will not be affected. Commercial trash will […]
Memorial Day to Affect Local Government Services Around Orange County (2025)
The observation of Memorial Day on Monday, May 26 will affect multiple local government services around the Orange County community. Here’s a complete list of which services in which towns will be moved due to the holiday: Town of Chapel Hill Memorial Day is an official town holiday. Most town and other administrative offices will […]
Orange County's Governments Receive Budget Proposals, Grapple With Adding Taxes or Cutting Services
The managers of three Orange County local governments recommended adding to residents' increased tax bills in their FY26 budget proposals.
Uproar Festival of Public Art to Return to Orange County in August
The Uproar Festival of Public Art returns this August to showcase large-scale, bold works of art outdoors in Orange County.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to Affect Local Government Services (2025)
The observation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday, January 20 will affect local government services around the Orange County community. Here’s what residents can expect this year: Town of Chapel Hill Town offices will be closed on Monday. Residential trash normally collected on Monday will be collected on Wednesday, January 22. Curbside recycling […]
›