Oda was part of a gathering outside Richard’s Chapel United Methodist Church last week in Troy that featured remarks by several local young people who participated in a peaceful protest in the downtown and Police Chief Charles Phelps.
“Our hearts are grieving there is so much going on in the world,” said Pastor Kima Cunningham of Richards Chapel who asked the more 100 people gathered to take two minutes and think about that fact that they could breathe.
The gathering provided a platform for young people talk about experiences including racism in the community and beyond. Themes heard were about courage, unity and working together for change.
Alaura Holycross, a Troy High School graduate studying law enforcement and corrections at the University of Tiffin, said she still doesn’t understand why African Americans are being targeted. “The reason why I want to be a police officer is so I can see what is going on first-hand,” she said. “We as a whole have the power to change a system that has been broken for years.”
Phelps said many issues have been brought to light since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The issues are complex and will take a lot of work and a lot of time to be able to solve, he said.
“Like you I saw the 15 seconds of video on the news … the police officer in me would like to know all of the details, but of course we don’t. However, I don’t need all the details to know that, like you, what I saw made me angry,” Phelps said.
Years of hard work trying to make things better was “destroyed in an instant” by a bad officer, he said. “We must start to rebuild those connections with the community again. In Troy, I think we have a pretty good base to begin from … When the time comes that anger has passed, we would welcome the input and honest communication to help” the department best serve the community, Phelps said.
“We want to be a part of the solution and make you a part of the solution,” Cunningham said.
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