MOUNT VERNON — The point of Wednesday’s Brown Bag Chat at the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County seemed to be that tolerance for the world’s diversity is also about tolerance for the unique heritage of each person.
Jim Singletary, director of Multicultural Affairs and Student Recruitment at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, brought four colleagues and students to tell their stories to an attentive, if small, audience.
Noting that 2008 is Knox County’s bicentennial year, Singletary said, “Slavery was abolished 200 years ago. At least on paper. And things began to change for people of color. The Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1865, but slavery was outlawed long before that, in 1808.”
Hailing from Youngstown, with family roots in South Carolina, Singletary said his grandmother, born 23 years after the proclamation was signed, was not allowed to go to school past fourth grade and not allowed to learn to read and write. Nonetheless, he said, she instilled a love and respect for education in her descendants.
“She would be very proud to know I work at a university and work with students,” Singletary said, adding that his mother is a retired teacher.
Butler, whose mother is from Tokyo, Japan, and whose father is from South Carolina and of English descent, grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. Her own family far-flung, she came to Mount Vernon with her new husband, who is a descendent of Benjamin Butler, one of the founders of the city.
As he pointed out relative after relative whom he spotted walking or working, Butler said she was amazed, as well as envious, that her husband lived among his family and knew his many relatives.
“That also taught me to be sensitive to newcomers,” she added.
Kenneth Harris Jr., grew up in Canton, Miss., in a hard-working farming family. His mother is from Athens, Ohio, and Harris’ family heritage includes Cherokee, English and black.
His father and uncle were drafted into the Army, and his uncle was killed in Vietnam. Harris said his uncle wrote home that he wasn’t sure who the enemy was or who exactly he was supposed to fight. His family has never been definitively informed about how he was killed. Harris said it is still painful to listen to his grandmother’s pain as she speaks of her son.
Despite living in the South, the only experience Harris’ family had of racism was when his grandmother’s father went fishing with some white friends.
“They were out in the woods,” he said, “and some of them were talking about ‘stringing him up.’” One white friend alerted his great-grandfather to the danger, saving his life.
“My grandparents raised all their children to not hate anyone,” Harris said. “I’m thankful for that. And my dad worked so hard, sun-up to sundown. He gave up so much so I can get an education. He didn’t want me to have to work as hard as he did.”
Amanda Paniagua is native to Ohio, and her heritage includes Apache, Prussian, Spanish, Mexican and European. She told of her Prussian relative who arrived in Texas in 1891 and was so taken with Hispanic and Mexican culture that he gave himself a Mexican name and married a Mexican woman.
“I’m a fine example of diversity,” Paniagua smiled.
Her grandmother was “married off” when quite young to an older man and had several children.
“She would say, ‘I wish I could have stayed in school. I loved being a mother, but I wish I could have an education.’ Recently, she got her GED. I am so proud of my grandmother. And now I’m the first in my family to go to a four-year university.”
Tyrome Turner is also a native Ohioan, from Cleveland, although his father grew up in Alabama and his mother in Georgia. His family also includes Cherokee heritage.
Noting that Cleveland was Ohio’s last stop on the Underground Railroad as slaves then made their way to Canada, he said, “That’s something I take a lot of pride in, being part of a city that worked to make people free.”
“Everyone has a story,” said Singletary. “And for MVNU’s international students, Knox County is their experience of America.”
Janet Wacker, reference librarian at the library, told the speakers that she was delighted by the stories of their cultures and families.
“Your stories gave me chills,” she said. “The stories of who you are are thrilling.”
Beginning on Sunday and continuing on Feb. 24 and March 2 and 9, at 2 p.m., the Mount Vernon Bicentennial film series will be screened at the library.
