Dividing Lines: What should The Pilot cover next? Here’s how you can tell us.

Norfolk — How did we get here?

That’s one of the questions The Virginian-Pilot’s been exploring for the past few weeks, looking at the decisions that took a once-integrated city of Norfolk and segregated it by race and class.

We plan to continue our Dividing Lines project — which you can read at PilotOnline.com/dividinglines — as long as we have stories to tell.

Many of our first stories have focused on the history of how we got here — old hat to some people, but new to many given how transient this military town is.

But we don’t want to stop there.

“What’s next” is just as important a question, particularly as the city embarks on a billion-dollar redevelopment project aimed at splitting up poverty that’s become concentrated in the public housing communities that border downtown.

We can’t answer these questions alone.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, we invite you to join us for a discussion about the city’s segregation. We want to hear your experiences and how it’s shaped your own life, as well as your ideas about what’s next — or what should be.

We’re holding this forum online using Microsoft Teams due to the pandemic. One day, we hope to be able to gather and have similar discussions in person.

You can join the discussion Thursday by visiting tinyurl.com/dividinglinesforum. We look forward to seeing you there.

Sara Gregory, 757-469-7484, sara.gregory@pilotonline.com