Thousands participate in Evanston's 26th Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race Against Hate

EVANSTON, Ill. (WLS) -- One step at a time, thousands of people took to the streets of north suburban Evanston to stomp out hate.

"Our society continues to change, and unfortunately, not for the better," said YWCA Evanston/North Shore President and CEO Cherese Ledet.

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Sunday marked the 26th Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race Against Hate, hosted by YWCA Evanston/North Shore.

"I think now more than ever, it's important for us to come together collectively. Just looking at the number of people here today speaks volumes," Ledet said.

The race honors the life of Ricky Byrdsong, the first African American Northwestern University men's basketball coach, who was shot and killed by a white supremacist while walking with his children near his Skokie home in July 1991.

"The message of the race, Race Against Hate, was really the way my husband lived his life, so we had to do something," said Sherialyn Byrdsong, Ricky's widow.

Byrdsong launched Race Against Hate to memorialize her late husband and to bring a sense of hope and peace to the community.

"Silence or inaction is not an option whenever your community has been impacted by such a horrific act, like what happened to us," Byrdsong said.

Race Against Hate participant Arlene Jackson says after Byrdsong's death, she knew she had to show her support.

"Unfortunately, we still have so much hate in this world, and this race is one small way that Evanston can say, 'Hey, we are totally against that, and we are supportive of this community,'" Jackson said.

Sharon Weeks says she has come out to Race Against Hate for years and says she feels the need to keep coming back to take a stand for hope.

"There is one message, that we do not receive hate, that we are a community of love and we extend that love out into the community and other areas as well," Weeks said.