By Hannah Finnerty
City Editor
With overwhelming support from the community, council members passed a first-reading resolution condemning violence, hate speech and discrimination targeting Muslim people.
Drafted by councilmember Daniel Gordon, in cooperation with Mayor Edwards, Bowling Green Human Relations Commission, Not In Our Town, Bowling Green Ministerial Association and the University’s Muslim Student Association, resolution 3655 is intended to be a preventative measure to hate crimes against the Muslim community.
“Bowling Green is a great community, and I am proud to call it home, but it is not immune either,” Gordon said.
Crediting the alarming rise in hate crimes against Muslims, most recently in Sylvania, Ohio, Gordon said the city needs to take action.
“What is national is also local. Our citizens, no matter their walk of life, deserve and have the right to live in a community where they feel safe, valued and respected. Too many members of our Bowling Green family worry that what happens elsewhere could happen here,” he said.
Dr. Emily Monago, co-chair of the Bowling Green Human Relations Commission and Interim Administrator-in-Charge for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the University, agreed with Gordon’s sentiment, saying this resolution, however symbolic, shows residents, future residents and other communities how we treat our residents.
“This resolution has the power to tell our story—our story and also our behavior as a community—a community of residents who are concerned and care about diverse residents in this community,” Monago said. “It can tell as our story as a caring and inclusive and proactive community that will stand together and proclaim that we will not tolerate hate and discrimination in this community.”
The University was represented by several students speaking on behalf of the resolution.
Junior Bea Fields grew up in Bowling Green. While she and her partner have experienced discrimination and hate from members of the community, she is opportunistic about the city’s potential and the message that this resolution sends.
“You [Bowling Green] have the opportunity to be better. You have the opportunity to be the best,” Fields said.
She said passing this resolution would be a step in the right direction.
Amira Hassnaoui, president of the Graduate Student Senate; Ahmad Mehmood, president of Muslim Student Association; and Neiko Alvarado, University student, also addressed the council.
