Mix It Up Day took place this year on November 13, 2007. Mix It Up Day aims to create friendships across such common social boundaries as race, religion and economic status. During this annual event that takes place in schools, students are encouraged to sit with other students during lunch with whom they normally would not. To aid the students in participating, tables might be set up by birth month, favorite color or favorite food. The results have been inspiring.

A survey of 2006 Mix It Up at Lunch Day organizers showed:

• 97% of respondents said students' interactions were positive during Mix It Up at Lunch Day.

• 95% of respondents said Mix It Up at Lunch Day prompted students to interact with people outside of their normal social circles.

• 92% of respondents said Mix It Up at Lunch Day increased awareness about social boundaries and divisions within school.

• 83% of respondents said the event helped students make new friends.

• 79% of respondents said as a result of the Day students have heightened sensitivity towards tolerance and social justice issues.

• 78% of the respondents said as a result of the Day students seem more comfortable interacting with different kinds of people.
  Source: Mix It Up Survey conducted by Quality Education Data, 2007. Data pulled from mixitup.org.

This year is the 50^th anniversary of an event that highlights the need for a program like Mix It Up Day. That event is the desegregation of public schools. On September 4, 1957, 9 black youth, amidst threats both verbal and physical, were integrated into the all-white Central High school in Little Rock, Arkansas. It eventually took the National Guard to be able to accomplish this. A documentary that aired on HBO visited the school as it is now. It was discovered that although the school is integrated, it is still segregated. Black and white students attend the same school, but few have friends or even classes of different races. The classes that do have more than one race in attendance are clearly divided along lines of race.

This is common amongst many schools and communities. As a bi-racial individual, I struggle constantly with issues of race. My father is black; my mother is white. I hate to see a society that is so clearly divided by race. I hope that programs like Mix It Up Day and documentaries like Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later will bring awareness to these divisions and help break them down.

For stories from students who have participated in Mix It Up Day, how to start one at your school or in your community and other news and information about Mix It Up Day, go to: www.mixitup.org

Mix It Up Day is partnered with The Teaching Tolerance program and the organization of The Southern Poverty Law Center. For more information on these: www.teachingtolerance.org

www.splcenter.org
To read more about Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later or to purchase a copy of the DVD: http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/littlerockcentral/index.html