CHAPEL HILL -- Many who gathered Thursday night at Town Hall agreed that Chapel Hill's racism is embedded in its institutions, not necessarily expressed by individuals.

For town sign-maker Jerry Neville, who has reported two separate graffiti incidents targeting him in recent weeks, the apparent racism of one or more of his co-workers in the Public Works Department is just a symptom of "institutional racism" in town government.

"It's a plantation system," Neville said. "If you have the views of an Uncle Tom, you progress in the system, but if you speak up, you cannot progress."

But Paul Wofford, another black public works employee, said Thursday's large turnout -- about 150 people packed the Council Chambers -- proved that Chapel Hill is committed to improving.

"It does my heart great warmth to be here," Wofford said. "It shows me that they're really concerned about racism in our society."

Mayor Kevin Foy also commended the crowd for attending the forum, titled "Are we a town divided?"

"All of you are leaders in our community because of your presence here," Foy said.

Jan Boxill, director of the UNC Parr Center for Ethics who moderated the forum, said voices such as Neville's are necessary for change to occur.

"People in power don't often understand the institutional racism," she said. "It's not a conspiracy. It's just that they don't know."

Nancie McDermott, a white woman who belongs to the Coalition to End Environmental Racism, said unconscious expedience, not overt racism, is what has led county leaders to focus on Eubanks Road for a new garbage transfer station. Black people living along Rogers Road have had to endure noise and odor from the county landfill for decades.

"They've had my garbage for 35 years, so there's no reason in the world they should have to deal with anything else about it," McDermott said. But "nobody's saying 'let's put it where the black people are,' and there are no white robes."

Yonni Chapman, who has been active in advocating sustainability in town operations and in the renaming of Airport Road to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, said a forum full of diverse voices is not enough.

"This by itself will not change anything. It will not change the structures of power," Chapman said. "Diversity is not anything like justice."

Chapman accused city school teachers and administrators of having low expectations for black students and said university and school employees need to undergo "anti-racist" training -- a step beyond just being "non-racist."

"The teacher can make or break a child," said Eugene Farrar, president of the local NAACP chapter.

Jennifer Jeffers, who moved to Chapel Hill a year ago, was disheartened to find that some families segregate children from each other based on economic class. But she said she was encouraged to find an interest in crossing barriers.

"I'm very happy to see that there's open dialogue here," she said. "I see so many people with open hearts and looking to make some changes."

But Virginia Barbee, a longtime activist in the Pine Knolls neighborhood, said it may be too late.

"It's really funny that this [forum] is happening now. What good is it?" Barbee said. "It's not just the racism that's pushing African Americans out of Chapel Hill. Now it's the money."

Barbee accused the town of letting crime go unchecked in her neighborhood to keep property values down until whites could buy houses and gentrify.

"They are determined to let us be bought out," she said.

Andre Wesson, who chairs the town's Justice in Action Committee and organized the forum, said African Americans need to give whites the benefit of the doubt.

"We as African Americans are very close emotionally to our past," he said. "The majority of white people that I've ever met in my life do not hold the evil sentiment that led to slavery."