By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green officials are implementing changes in response to a young patron repeatedly using the N-word at the city pool and waterpark.
During this past week’s Not In Our Town Bowling Green meeting, members discussed a recent incident at the pool, in which a young teen reportedly used the N-word. An adult patron at the pool reported the incident to pool staff.
“This was terribly upsetting to this person and their family,” Not In Our Town co-chair Emily Dunipace said.
“This is a reminder for us that we have work to do in our city,” she said.
Bowling Green Public Services Director Joe Fawcett said the city has taken three steps to improve the handling of similar incidents should they occur.
First, the incident has been reviewed with pool staff to discuss the lessons that can be learned and the improvements that can be made.
Second, the parks and recreation department is exploring “zero tolerance” rules for such behavior, and studying how those could be implemented at the pool.
And third, the parks and recreation department has been instructed to coordinate with the Bowling Green Police Division to get de-escalation training from officers.
“We want to better prepare for situations like this in the future,” Fawcett said.
At the request of the family that reported the incident, their day pass fees for the pool have since been refunded, he added. And pool staff contacted the guardian of the girl who was using the N-word.
“In my opinion, the pool staff worked through a very contentious and difficult matter,” Fawcett said. “There are some lessons we can learn here.”
The city may extend the de-escalation training to other parks and recreation staff.
“It’s something that we should probably do, frankly,” Fawcett said.
During the Not In Our Town meeting, members discussed initial feelings by the family that they felt unsupported by staff and unwelcome at the pool. They reportedly asked the girl to stop using the word, but she continued and the situation escalated.
On the NIOT BG Facebook page, the organization stated it was appalled by the behavior, and concerned with the response.
“We must again emphasize that language is powerful, and the use of the N-word is a demoralizing racial slur that has no place in our community,” the Facebook post stated.
“While we understand the protocols and procedures, the initial inaction left patrons feeling unheard, unsupported and unwelcome,” it continued. “We would hope that this incident results in a learning opportunity so to avoid an incident like this happening again.”
Member Tom Klein said that pool personnel can’t be expected to deal with situations that take counseling skills to handle.
Another member Karla Davis-McGowan pointed out that training is needed – at many workplaces.
“I don’t think they have been trained – just like the Waffle House,” she said, referring to the incident in 2019 when two white patrons of the Bowling Green restaurant were charged with assaulting two teens of color.
NIOT member Gary Saunders said training on how to handle such situations would be valuable. “A couple of hours could do a heck of a lot of good,” he said.
And Klein suggested that there may be a wider opportunity for such training in the community. “These things happen beyond the pool,” he said.
