Paul Fanlund: When race is the topic, honesty can sometimes backfire

Last month?s forum on race had just begun when moderator Keith Woods asked the eight panelists what really gets in the way of honest conversation about the racial divide in Madison. Everett Mitchell, with jarring honesty, set the tone for the rest of the evening. Mitchell, an African-American, is Director of Community Relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and pastor at Christ the Solid Rock Baptist Church. At 37, he?s a dynamic leader with a growing record of selfless community service, one already too long to catalog quickly.