The Association of Commerce in Peoria mirrored a growing national concern among major businesses and industries when it promised to fund Project TIP: Together In Peoria.

The program, which is directed at overcoming racial conflicts and misunderstandings, looked like a promising solution for recent physical confrontations resulting from racial tensions.

The A of C saw its donation as a smart business investment. As president Ralph I Classman explained,” ($85,000) is very little when we consider the hours that are spent by police patrolling potentially explosive situation and the cost of community damage that can result from interracial misunderstandings.”