Lawrence Alliance Minutes

September 28, 2005
Submitted by Deb Taylor

Members Present:

Sara Taliaferro, Anne Burgess, Sarah Terwelp, Tiffany Hessler-Droge,  Ed Brunt,  Hilda Enoch,  Deb Taylor

Members Absent:

Ralph Reed, Peter Luckey, Bruce Ney, Barbara Bonnekessen

Staff Present:

Debbie Van Saun

Guests Present:

Sonya Johnson, NAACP; Moussa Elbayoumy, Islamic Center; Lori Tapahonso, Haskell and Pelathe; Vinya Sankaran Vasu and Naveen Raja, KU Cultural India Club; Lydia Leon and Abell Leon, Latino Community Coalition; Father Joseph Dang, Asian Community Center; Channette Kirby and David Smith, Lawrence Living Wage Alliance; Gayle Sigurdson, Kaw Valley OWL (Older Women's League)

Deb Taylor called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Lawrence Public Library. She welcomed our eleven guests to the Alliance board meeting.

Minutes of the August 10, 2005 meeting were read. Hilda Enoch made a motion to accept the minutes with one amendment. Ed Brunt seconded the motion. The minutes were approved on a voice vote.

Meeting

Board members and guests introduced themselves. Deb Taylor thanked the guests for attending the meeting and told them that the Board is looking for the best way to maximize its resources and energy for Lawrence. She added that the Board does not profess to have all the answers and she hoped that the idea exchange with the guests would help the Board to plan its direction. Deb handed out the Lawrence Alliance "Resources" page for the guests to review with instructions to notify her of information that should be updated.

Guests spoke about their organizations and their constituents' perceptions of tolerance and diversity in Lawrence:

Sonya Johnson, NAACP President, stated that the NAACP is open to ALL races because there is more power with numbers of people. She noted that the NAACP hosted a very successful panel discussion during Black History Month in February and the audience addressed issues they usually don’t feel comfortable discussing. The NAACP recently introduced a complaint process to enable members to address discrimination issues. It is also addressing the issue of disparity between athletics and the high cost of participating in USD 497 sports. To Sonya, the most popular discrimination in Lawrence is “class.”

Father Joseph Dang, Asian Community Center President, says that he has not experienced discrimination in Lawrence but he wonders if this is due to the fact that he wears a priest’s collar. He did note that when he asked the public (via the Lawrence Journal-World) to help him find housing for a family displaced because of Hurricane Katrina, he received an anonymous call from someone who stated that Vietnamese “are taking all of our jobs. Go away.” He admitted that sometimes Asian people do not get the best service at places in Lawrence (for example, a couple who went to SRS) and the attitude changes when Father Dang appears. He feels that most of the discrimination he has felt in Lawrence is from Catholic Churches who are not in agreement with his church, which is Apostolic Catholicism. “Religion is politics,” he noted.

Lydia Leon and Abell Leon, Latino Community Coalition members, stated that the LCC is focusing on three areas: (1. Education—the need for parents to communicate better with schools; ESL; tutoring); (2. Access to services—for interpretation and to better understand the culture; and (3. Creating a Welcome committee to better acclimate new Latinos to the Lawrence community. The LCC is working hard to make certain Latinos are aware of the available services in Lawrence. Lydia noted that 4000 Hispanics live in Douglas County (2004 census). Lydia and Abell stated that Latinos, in general, love Lawrence and they feel safe. At times, though, members experience subtle occurrences (not necessarily patterns) of discrimination, such as when a neighbor yelled at Hispanic children who were playing and told them to stop speaking Spanish. Some feel that service providers offer lower quality to Latinos. They do not always feel comfortable with Government representation; this is partly due to how they view Government in their native countries. Abell noted that getting a drivers license in this town can be difficult; this is also a problem on the State level.

Gayle Sigurdson, Kaw Valley OWL (Older Women’s League) President, stated that OWL focuses on social security and health care issues on a broader scale. She said that active, independent older women are treated ok, but the older, less healthy women are more vulnerable and easy to ignore. As a result, they become targets of scams (such as Medicare scams). Gayle noted that education doesn’t always travel to the mainstream so it is important for all of us to check on our older neighbors and help. She stated that we should get active and avoid "choir practice" (in other words, do more than merely talk about the problems with like-minded individuals in meetings). She encouraged all groups to "form unlikely partnerships."

Lori Tapahonso, Haskell University staff and Pelathe Community Resource Board member, stated that Haskell has been enjoying a good “awareness period” where its students, faculty, and staff have been able to identify and recognize how much Native Americans (NA) contribute to Lawrence. But, she noted, this is just a starting point. Students often feel that their needs are not being heard; the fact that not many members of the NA community are outspoken contributes to the frustration. Students are being discriminated against. Recently, a few Haskell students were walking back from Checkers when they were past by a bunch of higher schoolers (college students?) who threw things at them and told them to “go home.” Haskell is working on educating the community by welcoming tours on campus and speaking to groups. Lori noted that she sees the Lawrence Alliance as yet another support system for Native Americans.

Channette Kirby and David Smith, Lawrence Living Wage Alliance, noted that their organization was created in order to pass a living wage ordinance in Lawrence. Channette stated that their research in this area has caused them to learn more about the community beyond the living wage discussion. Now, the Alliance focuses on two major issues: housing and access to health care. Channette noted that, as organizations with similar interests, we need to quit duplicating efforts and work toward sharing basic needs. We need to look at housing as it relates to the poor as well as how we are losing neighborhoods (such as Cordley) since wealthier neighborhoods are being created in the western parts of Lawrence. David Smith noted that the Living Wage Alliance has redefined itself to focus on poverty and those who are at risk for becoming homeless. It is focusing on institutionalized discrimination; the poor are mostly women and minorities. David said that 3800 families in Lawrence cannot afford to pay even $250 per month in rent. He believes that working with poverty is essential to the health of Lawrence.

Vinya Sankaran Vasu and Naveen Raja, KU Cultural India Club, stated that most Indian students feel very positive about Lawrence and they do not feel discriminated against. Vinya suggested that the USD 497 system should talk more to young people about diversity and “where people come from” so that the children can grow up to be more tolerant. Vinya also noted that she would appreciate the Alliance’s help in getting their events publicized.

Moussa Elbayoumy, Islamic Center member, noted that although most in his community feel welcomed in Lawrence, many “behaviors” exist that can be seen as hateful. An example is when a Muslim woman was told that she could not wear traditional head gear while getting her driver’s license picture taken (this is not technically true). A PhD student was refused the legal paperwork necessary to file for an extended stay in the U.S. so he could complete the last semester of his course work. In both cases, pressure was placed on the people who were discriminating against these Muslims and they relented. Moussa stated that we need to teach our community members. He noted that fear and misunderstanding create discrimination. Thus, the Lawrence Alliance must create events that promote diversity and bring groups together. He concluded that we must find the root of the problem and work to remove it.

Deb Taylor thanked the guests for coming and asked them to keep us updated on their organizations' events so we can post them to our Web site. She also encouraged them to use the Alliance as a resource and encouraged them to attend future Board meetings when they feel the need to discuss specific issues.

Adjournment

Sara Taliaferro moved (and Sarah Terwelp seconded the motion) that the meeting be adjourned at approximately 8:57 p.m. The motion was approved on a voice vote.

--end--