When most people sit down at the dinner table after a long day of school or work, they typically tell stories of their day.
Unfortunately, Carol Kinsey was told something she never hopes to hear again — the skin color of her daughter’s friend affecting his daily life.
Sometimes when he would go out, he would be pointed at or hear derogatory comments about his African American heritage.
“When someone comes home that you love and care about and tells you about something they suffer from on a daily basis that isn’t their fault, you want to step up and try and fix it,” Kinsey said. “You just hurt inside.”
When Kinsey heard about Tuesday nights talk with community members, “A Conversation About Race,” she instantly wanted to be involved to see how she could step up, become more educated and hear others’ experiences.
“Because people I love suffer from the color of their skin, I am sensitive from it,” Kinsey said.
Jim Litwin and Jack Taylor co-facilitated the conversation for community members to participate in a over-looked conversation about racism.
“We want to emphasize we both have always had an interest in social justice since we both grew up during the 60s,” said Taylor, student affairs administrator and faculty member in Ethnic Studies at the University.
Both Litwin and Taylor wanted to provide a conversation for community members because University students have multiple opportunities on campus to discuss these issues that the community does not.
“We encourage students to come, but watch as ‘non-perspective,’” Taylor said.
Litwin, former professor in Ethic Studies, said another reason he wanted to host these were because of suppressed voting issues that “pushed him over the top.”
“The Civil Rights Movement came to me, I didn’t come to it,” Litwin said. “Racism has become much more subtle.”
Roughly 13 attendees showed up, telling stories about their own personal experiences. Since a majority of the attendees lived in Bowling Green throughout the years, each member shared stories about racism issues the community experienced.
“What shaped your experiences about racism growing up?” was the main question Litwin asked each member to describe to the group.
Some of the issues brought up resulted from when the KKK marched through Bowling Green, personal stories and the nature of prejudice.
Although discussing these issues were vital, a more important question rose throughout the discussion.
“What can we do to confront these issues in a manner that [eliminates] racism but still makes people more aware of the issues,” said Bruce Jeffers, city council At-Large member.
Although there was no direct answer to this question, this will not be the last time the group will be meeting to discuss the topic.
The group will be meeting the next three Tuesdays at the Wood County Senior Center at 7 p.m.
