Locals discuss importance of diversity in local government and society

Sarah Arnold March 9, 2020March 9, 2020 0 Comments

By: Sarah Arnold and Madison Tromler

A lack of diversity in city councils can cause people of color to be less engaged and not advocate for their interests in the political decisions of their community. Portage County is home to 162,000 people— according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 146,000 people are white and 6,580 are black. Fewer than 3,000 people are either Latino or Asian. According to demos.org, of the 438 municipalities listed, at least one African American sits on the local city council throughout the United States. But there are 175 municipalities with councils that don’t have African American representatives, which leaves more than 1.2 million underrepresented. Hank Gibson, a Ravenna township trustee and the assistant chief of probation, is the second elected black person on the board who is currently in his fourth year term.

Source: Demos.org

Hank Gibson, Ravenna Twp. Trustee

“I wanted to be able to make a change, and I wanted to be able to show young, black folk that if they persevere, met the requirements then anything is possible,” Gibson said. “They didn’t elect me because of the color of my skin, they elected me because of my character and I was qualified.”

There are many reasons why there is a lack of diversity on councils. One can be time. It can take long nights and weekends with extra effort to run for council that people may not have or be willing to give. Another reason is money. These positions tend to be low-paying jobs, which may not be worth it to some. According to Pay Scale, the average salary for a city council member in Kent is about $37,000. Community engagement is a crucial aspect of making a change to bring more diversity to city councils as well. Encouraging people who represent diverse constituencies who run for office does not happen often. This can draw people in and support campaigns of people of color. Gibson said that in order for someone to run for council, you need to be qualified, but more importantly you need to be a person of good character and have the opportunity and courage to make a change.

“Diversity is important because when you see people who look like you, then you aspire to get involved in local government,” Gibson said. “I could have easily said their not going to elect me, there’s no one who looks like me, but I continued to push on to get elected.”

In a predominantly white community, some might think diversity isn’t important or shouldn’t matter. Linda Piccirillo-Smith, a professor in the Pan-African studies department, said that when only one group speaks for all groups, it can easily miss the needs of people of color. For instance, public policies may not take into consideration the needs of the disabled, the needs of the LGBTQ community or the needs of the Latino community.

“An African American man ran for our city council in the last election. The man who opposed him for the seat, who was white, did zero campaigning (no flyers, no signs, no letters — zero),” Piccirillo- Smith said. “The African American man lost by 33 votes in a race where the voter turnout was less than 50%. One person put out false information about the African American candidate on social media two days before the election.”

Linda Piccirillo- Smith

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, white people make up more than 90 percent of the population while African Americans make up 4.6 percent and about 6 percent make up other races in Portage County. This data shows that there are more white people in the area than any other race.

Mwatabu Okantah, a Pan-African Studies professor, is a firm believer that because of historical events such as lynching, slavery and segregation, are no longer an issue, white people think racism not a problem anymore. He said it is getting better with generations, but that people are just making it look like they are inclusive with people of color. For instance, a group is not diverse when you have six white people and one black person. Okantah asks: Why can’t the white person be the one in the group of black people? Why does it always have to be the black person joining in on the group of white people?

“The problem comes from the beginning of time,” said Okantah. “Blacks have been allowed into the white world, we have had to conform to their culture. We have been forced to navigate white peoples society, which is different from ours.”

Okantah defines diversity as the planet being what it is. He said that the world is made up of all different kinds of races such as, brown, black, international and our children’s children decedents. White privilege has become an assumed state, which shuts out those who are not white, he said. In order for change to come about with more diversity and less racism, it requires thinking and changing on the white person’s part. Black people are not the reason for racism. It is white people who need to come together and talk to each other about what they are doing to create change.