The Bias-Free Columbia Coalition invited citizens to its third public event, aiming to help build Columbia a community to welcome residents from various backgrounds. The meeting introduced two projects centering on reducing racial bias toward Muslims and Hispanics.
“We come here to learn about the community and help others to understand what we don’t immediately recognize,” Columbia Police Department Chief Ken Burton said.
The projects were put forward by Rashed Nizam, President of the Islamic Center of Central Missouri, Roxana Gomero, a Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services staff member and Alejandra Gudino, a University of Missouri Extension faculty member.
Nizam said misunderstandings toward and stereotypes of Muslims are like “stranger anxiety,” a form of distress that children experience when exposed to strangers. He called the project put forward by ICC, “introducing to Islam.”
Arwa Mohammad, Director of the Muslim Speakers Bureau of Columbia, talked about Islamic culture and religion during the event, from Muslim’s religion commitment to taboos.
Mohammad, whose parents were both Iraqi immigrants, was born and raised in central Missouri. She said she understands the subtlety of cultural conflicts and religious conflicts here.
“Culture is complicated,” Mohammad said. “There are a lot of reasons of why that might be the case.”
According to a flier of the coalition, the project’s goal is to help acclimate new Muslim residents and familiarize the Columbia community with Islamic culture.
Gudino also spoke at the meeting. She talked about a program she has been working on to help rural, agricultural communities welcome new Latino members.
“We are just one community,” Gudino said. “We are more similar than we think we are.”
She said there has long been a stereotype toward Hispanic immigrants.
“Not everyone’s coming to the country because of money,” Gudino said. “Sometimes, it’s because of love.”
She said both she and Gomero came to the United States following their husbands.
“Give a thought full of time before you make the judgment and be very mindful of the word you are using,” Gudino said.
Gomero was supposed to present at the meeting to explain a series of meetings held by her department for Latino immigrants. Her project focused on basic health concerns together with other issues in community life.
“We need to be community oriented,” said Don Love, chairman of Missouri Association for Social Welfare of the Human Rights Task Force.
He said the meeting offered an opportunity to actually get a group of people who don’t often see each other to come together and have face-to-face talk.
CPD spokeswoman Jill Schlude addressed the language problem while dealing with residents from multicultural background. She said the problem becomes prominent especially during interrogation.
“We can’t even find out why people called the police,” Schlude said.
Alisa Warren, Executive Director of Missouri Commission on Human Rights, also voiced for different community. She suggested the diversity training should be extended to corporations.
Miguel Rodriguez is a Venezuelan immigrant who has lived in Columbia for 27 years. He said the meeting was very helpful.
“People only know the problems when things happen to them,” he said. “If we don’t come to the meeting, we won’t know what is going on. We are the biggest part of the community. We have to voice ourselves.”
The next public event of the Bias-free Columbia Coalition has been scheduled for Dec. 7 in Columbia City Hall. Kansas City police officers Jack Colwell and Chip Huth will share their expertise in diversity training.
