A crowd of around 125 community members, leaders, elected officials and others gathered Saturday morning in the Performing Arts Center of Christian County Middle School for the Unity Summit.
The summit had originally been planned for last fall but was delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Attendees were able to hear testimony from Magistrate Magaline Ferguson, retired Judge Arnold Lynch and retired Principal Levi Peterson about how they have been subjected to and dealt with systemic racism.
In a panel discussing that topic, Hopkinsville Police Chief Clayton Sumner says it’s something that the police force is constantly training people to recognize and working to improve on amongst the officers, and says unity begins with relationships in the community.
He says along with body cameras, they are constantly watching for troubling behaviors in the ranks and intervening when necessary to keep individuals safe.
Donovan Pinner says there needs to be a space where younger generations feel heard and understood when they bring forth their complaints and struggles, even if others may not agree with what they hear.
Hopkinsville Community College President and CEO Dr. Alissa Young and CCPS Superintendent Chris Bentzel both agreed that their needs to be more diverse representation at all levels of education, with Dr. Young saying it can truly inspire a student to succeed.
Superintendent Bentzel says one of the main reasons there is now a Diversity Administrator in the school system is because they recognized that they need to help their minority student population now, instead of leaving them behind any longer.
Human Rights Commission Director Idalia Luna says systemic racism exists in more places than people think, including in both the housing industry and in local economics, and agencies need to make sure they’re recognizing those problems and fighting against them.
The crowd broke out into groups to discuss what they had heard and learned and to make plans about where to go from here, at all levels of government, criminal justice, education and economically to make sure Hopkinsville-Christian County is a fair and equitable place to live.
