Former Rev. Mark Morrison-Reed is one of the first black Unitarian Universalist ministers, and on Monday, nearly 100 individuals gathered in the Memorial Union to hear his lecture about the civil rights movement, growing up with racism and how racism touches all Americans.

The issue of racism has been a looming factor in the U.S for years. The change that has been a part of the world though is a process, Reed said.

“President [Barack] Obama,” Morrison-Reed said, “he embodies the evolution of America.”

Reed said that Obama lived two blocks away from his parents’ house in Chicago and because of the security around the premises, he had to take a detour to get to his parents’ house.

“As Americans, we detour around the issue of race,” Morrison-Reed said.

Morrison-Reed emphasized the coming of age era of the American transition, “it is neither this nor that,” he said.

He asked if the audience notices his skin color, and if they do, they misread who he is.

“Someone whose father worked on the atomic bomb as a nuclear chemist, mother is a social worker, went to a Swiss boarding school and married a Canadian woman,” Morrison-Reed said. “That’s me.”

Those facts are who he is, not that he is a black man, he emphasized. But Morrison-Reed realizes that people have common generalizations about black and white. He remarked that there were times in his life that he even had a common generalization of black and white

“It goes both ways,” he said, “I was hitchhiking back in the 1960s in Northern California … and a police office pulls up next to me and said, ‘You won’t get a ride here, I’ll bring you somewhere else.’ I smiled, but checked his name on his badge before getting in the car, just in case.”

The end of his story “readjusted his view of the world — a little,” he said with a laugh, because the officer bought him a Coke and dropped him off as promised.

He continued to explore whether people have a “racial complex” that blinds individuals with underlying issues. He emphasized again that if people “see in black and white,” then they’re going to miss a whole lot.

He continued on to talk about the change the U.S. has seen back to George Wallace, a pro-segregation governor of Alabama, and then to recent years.

“Back in 1965, no one could foresee Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, NFL coach Mike Tomlin, Herman Cain or even President Obama,” Morrison-Reed said.

Harrison-Reed discussed the beginning of racism in people’s lives and how it influences them in their later experiences.

“Ever since we were children, our culture reinforced that white is good.”

Morrison-Reed is an avid believer that racism affects everyone, because “the system keeps us apart and it’s unfair” he said. “It wounds us all, not just black and white, but we all get wounded by racism. We’re deeply connected.”

He understands that people make mistakes, and that mistakes are inevitable.

“Mistakes are learning opportunities,” he said. “Say something inappropriate, it’s how you’ll learn.”

Morrison-Reed also emphasized that different cultures have different ideologies or expectations.

“In the ’60s, I was attacked because I wasn’t a black militant,” he said. “They had their ideology and they didn’t see it in me, so I was attached.”

He adamant on living by the “golden rule” — treat others the way you would want to be treated.

“If people looked past differences, we could move forward.”

Ryan Helling, senior in finance, said he learned a lot from Morrison-Reed.

“I enjoyed his lecture,” he said. “He made me think.”

Many students aren’t aware of the many problems of racism; even Morrison-Reed’s graduate students get surprised about what they’re learning from him.

“It made me think about the tendencies you get at an early age about prejudice,” Helling said, “but it’s comforting knowing we’re moving forward and getting better.”

Morrison-Reed received his MA from the University of Chicago, and his D.Min from Meadville Lombard Theological School, where is his now a faculty member.

For 26 years, he was a co-minister with his wife, Donna, in Rochester, N.Y., then Toronto, Ontario. He now teaches graduate students at Meadville Lombard, writes, does community service and gives speeches.

Morrison-Reed is the author of “In Between: Memoir of an Integration Baby.” His lecture is a part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Series.

Ending his lecture, he read a passage, giving the audience a part.

When he pointed at the audience, members said, “It will not matter,” that stated that an individual’s religious, political or other beliefs do not matter, but what truly matters is building a community.