People in Lawrenceville, Ga., have been invited to come together Thursday for a two-hour networking event. They’ll get a name tag, go through introductions, eat comfort food such as chili and corn bread, and — they’ve been told — get a chance to meet a black person.

Cheryle Moses, a black woman who founded Urban MediaMakers, a group for filmmakers and content creators, is sponsoring the ‘‘Come Meet a Black Person’’ event.

She said she ‘‘wanted to do something different’’ for the group’s 16th anniversary.

Moses read a few months ago that most whites don’t have many nonwhite friends. She noted a 2013 study from the Public Religion Research Institute suggesting that 75 percent of white people in the United States don’t have any nonwhite friends. For most whites, their circle of friends is about 91 percent white. Similarly, the study showed that 65 percent of black people don’t have white friends.

‘‘As a black person I deal with racism everyday,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s a part of life. Nowadays I have become more fearful. I have never been afraid when it comes to race but now I am. And I don’t think I’m alone. I want to do my part to change things,’’ Moses said.

The group asks for white people who don’t have any nonwhite friends to attend.

Since the event was posted on Nov. 12, the response has been ‘‘phenomenal’’ according to Moses.

washington post