Members of the Not In Our Town team will be joining the Not In Our Town group in Bowling Green, OH (NIOT BG) on Tuesday, April 14, to commemorate the second anniversary of Bowling Green State University’s NIOT campaign that sparked a thriving city-wide effort towards diversity and inclusion.
The event will premiere the film, A Bowling Green Legacy, which profiles how campus and community leaders came together after two racially-motivated hate incidents shook their town. Leaders from the Black Student Union and school administrators organized community meetings and launched a Not In Our Town campaign, which became a partnership between BGSU and the city.
After the screening, the City of Bowling Green, BGSU, and NIOT BG will welcome campus and community members to a discussion and open forum.
bowling green state university
By Luke Grabski
I read an article recently called “An American Tragedy” by Nuanihal Singh from August 2012, shortly after a white supremacist opened fire in the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. The article raises awareness about the lack of awareness about the horrible events that took place.
While reading how Singh was concerned that the national media treated “the massacre in Oak Creek … as a tragedy for Sikhs in America rather than a tragedy for all Americans,” I reflected on my recent experience at the Not In Our Town National Leadership Gathering.
Almost two years after the massacre in Oak Creek, I sat in a large room in the Northern Hotel in Billings, Montana as family members and survivors of the shooting sat on a panel about the actions they’ve taken to prevent these situations in the future.
The Not In Our Town National Leadership Gathering in June brought together leaders from 46 cities in 21 states. As these leaders returned to their hometowns, they continued the conversation about why preventing extremism, hatred and bullying matters.
Here we feature four great news articles and opinion pieces that feature our leaders and their presence at the gathering.
Alternet, “Why do people hate? And Is There a Way to Counteract It?”
A recent New York Times op-ed explored a white supremacist website and the demographics of its members. Author Seth Stephens-Davidowitz concluded with a question, “Why do some people feel this way? And what is to be done about it? I have pored over data of an unprecedented breadth and depth, thanks to our new digital era. And I can honestly offer the following answer: I have no idea.”
In response, Frank Joyce’s Alternet op-ed poses Not In Our Town’s work as part of the solution.
Bowling Green Community Stands Together Against Racist Tweets, Again