Roots of Justice:
Historical Truth and Reconciliation in Nebraska
by Bill Arfmann
On behalf of the Roots of Justice Steering Committee
It all began with the NAACP Lincoln Branch and NFP Lincoln Chapter. Each year, typically in July, we celebrate Nelson Mandela’s birthday with a picnic, accompanied by a panel discussion of race and racism in our community. This year, Dr. Dewayne Mays and Dr. Paul Olson took the lead. Before the pandemic, we organized a steering committee to push further and dig deeper. We decided to put together a well-documented and accurate history to focus on the Nebraska experiences of five groups:
• Native Americans
• African Americans
• Latinos
• Asian Americans
• Refugees
These stories have not been part of the education of most Nebraskans. Acknowledging the pains of the past—hearing peoples’ stories promises to help us all better understand why things are as they are today—can lead to racial healing.
Thanks to numerous individual donations (as well as grants from the Lincoln, Woods, and Weitz Family Foundations), authors were contracted to write these five chapters of Nebraska history. Preston Love Jr., Dr. Ness Sandoval, Kevin Abourezk, Dr. Gabe Bruguier, Dr. Sharon Ishii-Jordan, Dr. Heather Fryer, Dr. Emira Ibrahimpasic, and Dr. Julia Reilly signed on to write our chapters.
Our writers and steering committee determined that these histories required more than gathering old news clips, journals, and other written historical accounts. We organized and executed listening sessions in Lincoln, Scottsbluff, Omaha, and Grand Island. Additional listening sessions are planned for Columbus/Fremont and for Native Americans. The agenda for these listening sessions began with a brief project introduction. Our writers are pulling together the histories from many sources. No one knows or can tell these stories better than the people and families who experienced racism in our Nebraska communities. Therefore, we listened. People talked about their experiences and stories AND WERE LISTENED TO. We preserved these vital stories with video.
We are excited to announce that three chapters are complete, and two others are nearing completion. A peer review process and final editing lie ahead this fall. Kevin Abourezk is editing all except the Native American chapter he wrote with Bruguier. All will be published as an e-book on UNL’s Digital Commons by late 2023 or early 2024.
The project steering committee and writers are now considering and planning for the next steps. We are in conversation with the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities about collaboration on a website. Our next steps require us to develop a plan to digitize the chapters to facilitate better interaction and accessibility to metadata associated with the project. Digital access will accommodate the needs of researchers, students, educators, community leaders, civic groups, unions, and interested churches. While the following steps beyond 2023 are not yet clear, it is clear that the work on the Roots of Justice, Historical Truth and Reconciliation project must continue, and the project will REQUIRE ADDITIONAL MONEY TO DO WHAT MUST BE DONE.
To learn more, visit rootsofjusticene.org. To donate online, visit: https://neappleseed.org/rootsofjustice. Or write a check to Nebraska Appleseed, our fiscal sponsor. Put Roots of Justice on the memo line. Mail it to:
Nebraska Appleseed
P.O. Box 83613
Lincoln, NE. 68501-3613
Finally, let us sincerely thank all from NFP and the NAACP who have already donated and helped take the project to this point. We could not have done it without you!
On behalf of the Roots of Justice Steering Committee
It all began with the NAACP Lincoln Branch and NFP Lincoln Chapter. Each year, typically in July, we celebrate Nelson Mandela’s birthday with a picnic, accompanied by a panel discussion of race and racism in our community. This year, Dr. Dewayne Mays and Dr. Paul Olson took the lead. Before the pandemic, we organized a steering committee to push further and dig deeper. We decided to put together a well-documented and accurate history to focus on the Nebraska experiences of five groups:
• Native Americans
• African Americans
• Latinos
• Asian Americans
• Refugees
These stories have not been part of the education of most Nebraskans. Acknowledging the pains of the past—hearing peoples’ stories promises to help us all better understand why things are as they are today—can lead to racial healing.
Thanks to numerous individual donations (as well as grants from the Lincoln, Woods, and Weitz Family Foundations), authors were contracted to write these five chapters of Nebraska history. Preston Love Jr., Dr. Ness Sandoval, Kevin Abourezk, Dr. Gabe Bruguier, Dr. Sharon Ishii-Jordan, Dr. Heather Fryer, Dr. Emira Ibrahimpasic, and Dr. Julia Reilly signed on to write our chapters.
Our writers and steering committee determined that these histories required more than gathering old news clips, journals, and other written historical accounts. We organized and executed listening sessions in Lincoln, Scottsbluff, Omaha, and Grand Island. Additional listening sessions are planned for Columbus/Fremont and for Native Americans. The agenda for these listening sessions began with a brief project introduction. Our writers are pulling together the histories from many sources. No one knows or can tell these stories better than the people and families who experienced racism in our Nebraska communities. Therefore, we listened. People talked about their experiences and stories AND WERE LISTENED TO. We preserved these vital stories with video.
We are excited to announce that three chapters are complete, and two others are nearing completion. A peer review process and final editing lie ahead this fall. Kevin Abourezk is editing all except the Native American chapter he wrote with Bruguier. All will be published as an e-book on UNL’s Digital Commons by late 2023 or early 2024.
The project steering committee and writers are now considering and planning for the next steps. We are in conversation with the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities about collaboration on a website. Our next steps require us to develop a plan to digitize the chapters to facilitate better interaction and accessibility to metadata associated with the project. Digital access will accommodate the needs of researchers, students, educators, community leaders, civic groups, unions, and interested churches. While the following steps beyond 2023 are not yet clear, it is clear that the work on the Roots of Justice, Historical Truth and Reconciliation project must continue, and the project will REQUIRE ADDITIONAL MONEY TO DO WHAT MUST BE DONE.
To learn more, visit rootsofjusticene.org. To donate online, visit: https://neappleseed.org/rootsofjustice. Or write a check to Nebraska Appleseed, our fiscal sponsor. Put Roots of Justice on the memo line. Mail it to:
Nebraska Appleseed
P.O. Box 83613
Lincoln, NE. 68501-3613
Finally, let us sincerely thank all from NFP and the NAACP who have already donated and helped take the project to this point. We could not have done it without you!