Detroit — Racism in America is real, and it’s a problem. But for every problem, there tends to be a solution.

For Black Catholic Ministries in the Archdiocese of Detroit, that solution might be a toolbox — a conversation tool box.

Black Catholic Ministries, under the direction of Leon Dixon Jr. and with the assistance of former director John Thorne, are hosting two speakers in 2016 to prepare for a series of dialogues in 2017 to discuss a wide array of issues in dealing with race and racism in Detroit and southeast Michigan.

The purpose of the sessions is to form a “dialogue toolbox” to better prepare people to talk about race relations in the United States.

On May 26, Black Catholic Ministries along with the Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance hosted

Tim Wise, an author and speaker from Nashville, Tenn., to discuss the history of racism and “white privilege” in America.

Wise spoke to local pastors and leaders in two-day sessions before addressing the public at Marygrove College.

“The past is not something you can lock into a vault,” Wise said. “Whites say all those bad things happened in the past. But there is the thing with history, it keeps affecting us, all the problems we face with socio-economic inequality can be linked to the past of racial violence and mistrust.”

Wise contended many white people don’t understand how such history might create a breach of trust between people of different races, especially among those who’ve suffered from racial inequality.

“The white middle class builds itself on this idea of rugged individualism — which is a false history,” he said. “There is no such thing as an individual. We are all in a context of culture, values and notions.”

More than 350 people filled the theater at Marygrove, in what Thorne hopes will be the first of many talks that can improve racial relations in the Archdiocese of Detroit.

“This is the start of the movement to try and heal the divide between the cities and the suburbs,” Throne said. “In the next five months, we’ll be completing a tool kit of conversation starters people need to discuss this issue.”

In October, Fr. Bryan Massingale will speak on the history of race relations in the Catholic Church, something Thorne said will be important for all members of the Church to contemplate as it goes forward in the New Evangelization.

“One thing Tim touched up upon tonight is that the Church hasn’t been the perfect vehicle, historically, in dealing with racism,” Thorne said. “The only way to deal with that is to admit it, and say we didn’t do it right. We need to be open to criticism, but also open to forgiveness and healing, being a vehicle of the New Evangelization. Recognizing our faults and know there is work to be done in bringing the light of Christ to southeast Michigan.”