By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Three young Bowling Green residents came before City Council Monday evening to tell elected officials their work should not end with the passage of a racial equity resolution.
Lindsay Durham thanked council members for adopting the resolution – but she made it clear that they need to try harder.
“Not everyone gets to experience Bowling Green the way white people do,” she said.
As a member of the newly formed organization called BRAVE – Black Rights Activism, Visibility, Equity – Durham said the group’s meetings have been reflective of reactions to Black residents in Bowling Green.
During meetings in Wooster Green, the group has endured white men yelling derogatory messages from a car, someone telling the group it’s nice they are using “their park,” and a man trying to disrupt the meeting by walking through the middle of it multiple times.
Groups of white people meeting in Wooster Green don’t encounter such treatment.
Durham suggested that if Bowling Green City Council members were serious about creating racial equity, they would hold public hearings – similar to those held before council adopted the mask ordinance.
It is wrong, Durham said, to ask Black residents to teach the community about the racism they face.
“It’s unfair to put responsibility on the backs of Black people to educate you,” she said. They have been speaking out for years, with most of their words falling on deaf ears, she added.
Chris Douglas, who has lived in Bowling Green for nearly 10 years, said he has experienced racism and alienation here. He noted that the number of Black-owned businesses in the city can be counted on one hand.
“I believe too few Black voices are heard,” Douglas said.
“In this town, we have no equity,” he said.
He also applauded City Council’s efforts – but reminded them their work is far from over.
Beatrice Fields, from the newly created Community for Reallotment of Public Funds, told council she has lived in Bowling Green her whole life, and is working on a petition calling for fiscal responsibility in the city. About 500 signatures have been collected so far, she said.
Fields, whose organization conducted a “car demonstration” against the Force Science Institute training for area law enforcement, said she appreciated the cancellation of the training.
“We thank you for that,” she said.
Fields acknowledged her organization is “pretty aggressive, pretty direct.” But the group wants to have conversations with city leaders.
“We’re excited to get more young people here in Bowling Green to stay. We want to see this city flourish,” Fields said. Bowling Green has the potential to be the Ann Arbor of Ohio, she added.
Council member Neocles Leontis thanked the young people for speaking, and appreciated their issuing a challenge to City Council members to educate themselves. Leontis said he is putting together a reading list for other council members on the topic of racial inequity.
“We’re very much looking forward to working with you,” he said.
Council member Sandy Rowland also thanked the speakers and said the city needs more young people like them.
“I would like to see more Black businesses in town, more Black residents,” Rowland said.
The resolution unanimously passed by City Council on July 6 states the following:
- City Council pledges to listen and learn, in order to take meaningful action on racial injustice to ensure that people of color are treated equally in every encounter with the city and in receipt of city services.
- City Council seeks to increase diversity present throughout all city departments and divisions.
- City Council pledges to ensure that there are transparent processes across all city government for investigating employee misconduct and employing progressive discipline.
- An existing police officer will be assigned the duty of liaison to communities of color. Just as the police division assigns liaisons to school-age children and other community groups, outreach to communities of color should be formalized.
- The Human Relations Commission will create a series of city-sponsored “Listen & Learn” events, with the goal of educating city staff and the public on the history of racism and furthering the discussion on these issues within our community.
The resolution states that institutional and structural racism has plagued this country since its founding, and that there is a cry across America for public officials to take bold action. The wording acknowledges that Bowling Green is not immune from systematic racism.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, council members talked about the effectiveness of the city’s mask ordinance which was adopted last week.
“The compliance in the stores has been phenomenal,” Neocles said.
Council member John Zanfardino said prior to the ordinance, the rate of customers wearing masks in local groceries was as low as 50%.
“Right now it’s pretty universal,” Zanfardino said of mask usage.
