Editors note: This story is being updated to correct a reporter's error. WGLT sincerely regrets the mistake.
Race relations are in some ways worse today than in past decades, especially for some African Americans. Humanists in Bloomington-Normal are encouraging community members to join in the conversation of Black Lives Matter in order to understand what their neighbors live through every day.
The Normal Public Library hosted "Black Lives Matter: Listening To Our Neighbors" Tuesday night with only standing room available by the beginning of the discussion. The event was sponsored by the McLean County League of Women, Not In Our Town, First Christian Church, YWCA, and the Unitarian Universalist Church. State Farm Diversity and Inclusion Director Art Taylor led a panel of five in discussing their reasons to support Black Lives Matter.
Michael Donnelly is the Community Impact Director for United Way of McLean County. Donnelly said as a mixed African American in Bloomington-Normal, he has dealt with many frustrating situations with his family. Donnelly said, when he met his birth mother at age 19, he learned about the struggles his parents faced when he was born in 1976 because of their bi-racial relationship. Donnelly said he was not guided with a purpose when he was 12-18 years and got into trouble with the police.
"YouthBuild helped me shape up later in my later teens and twenties", Donnelly said. "It made me realize I still had an important life to live."
Martha Hunter was the oldest member of the panel and remembered living in Bloomington through years of segregation. Hunter said if she wanted to go out and eat with friends, they would either go into restaurants through the back door or wait in the ally for left overs. Hunter explained applying for jobs was harder due to managers of companies thinking African Americans were not smart enough to work for them.
"I always wanted to be a secretary, but there was no way I was getting hired at the top insurance company in town", Hunter said. "So, I tried my luck by applying at District 87 and worked there for thirty-two years."
One of the most unique speakers on the panel was a white woman with ten children. Sharon Warren is a Special Education Teacher from District 87 that adopted eight children after having two of her own grow up. Warren gets looks when she goes into the community with her family because she two of the adopted children are African American.
"We used to live in a small town in Iowa and had to move because one of my daughters was the only black girl in the school," said Warren. "We decided to come to Bloomington because of the diversity and things got a little bit better."
Warren explained situations where she would go to the convenience store with her black children and watch them get followed by a worker due to their "sagging pants" and "stereotypical walk". She said one of the hardest parts of being a parent for black children is explaining what is expected of them in today's society when other parents need to teach respect to theirs.
"Parents need to be having those conversations with their kids that different is not bad, it's just different", said Warren. "You need to accept if they are a different color, have a different culture, or even learn differently than you."
Warren asked the audience to consider keeping an open mind whenever they see children and adults of color and to never treat people less than human.
