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On Friday, August 13th, 1965 the neighborhood of Watts erupted in chaos and anarchy. The Watts Riots erupted from a routine arrest of a drunk driver. The rioting lasted for six days. Thirty-four people were killed, almost all black. As a result of this tragedy, much new thinking has taken place in the minds of well-meaning Americans about racism and how it might be addressed. Churches, concerned community groups, and organizations developed ‘dialog groups’ where blacks and whites could sit and talk among themselves about a variety to topics in hopes of gaining a better understanding of race.
In Columbus, the Leadership Morality Institute was started by Dean William Arthur and the LMI Board of Directors in 1989. Its aim was to provide educational programs in ethical leadership. Many of the community leaders believed deeply that a race relations dialogue could help Columbus avoid the violent confrontations that were rampant in the country. In 1992, the Breakfast forums were started by the LMI and lead by Bill Arthur.
The Race Relations Breakfasts were designed to provide a comfortable non-confrontational forum for discussion of race and race issues that affect the Columbus area among the diverse groups that attend.