Race is never an easy issue to tackle, at least not in an honest way. That said, we tried very hard this week to open up a dialogue on the topic, by looking back at the past. Our special guests, author and Law Professor Dr. Laura Gomez and state historian Dr. Estevan Rael-Galvez, did their part to tackle the issue of the history of race in New Mexico. You can see a picture of Dr. Gomez’s latest book above. It’s titled “Manifest Destinies” and deals with how race has been constructed in New Mexico.

THE LINE panelists picked up the issue by looking at how race issues are playing out in our state today. The prime example was the recent scandal over a proposed diversity training session at Sandia Labs. Another example is also playing out right now at New Mexico State University. You can read more about the racial and sexual harassment claims that are now being leveled against a top administrator there, by clicking here or here or here or here.

Now it’s your turn to continue the conversation. Leave us a message under the comments section. Tell us what you think about race relations here in New Mexico. Are we a more integrated state, because of our history? Or, do you think race issues are reaching a boiling point here in the Land of Enchantment?

We once again ran out of time on this week’s episode for the popular “On the Clock” segment of the show. But, not to worry! We let our panelists tackle the issues on camera after we signed off, for you to watch right here.

On last week’s show, we talked a great deal about “Green Building”, as you can tell by my last two postings. In the show we took a tour of two new “Green” schools in Rio Rancho. They feature environmentally friendly products, site designs that take full advantage of the sun, as well as some innovative heating and cooling technologies. We didn’t have time to talk about it in the show, but Rio Rancho is actually part of a national case study on “green building”. You can find out more about that study, and what is going on in Rio Rancho, by clicking here. This is the full interview that we conducted with Rio Rancho’s Superintendent V. Sue Cleveland.

And, click here if you want more information about how schools are helping to spark the “green buidling” movement.