Erlanger brings back task force to discuss diversity, inclusion

BY NATHAN GRANGER | LINK nky REPORTER

Renee Wilson has never felt personally discriminated against or threatened in Erlanger because of her race, but she feels strongly that issues of diversity need to be spotlighted, particularly within the school system.

“We want to have more interacting with students so that … when they graduate, there is a place for them to find employment, to continue to grow as a family… and to continue to be a part of this community,” she said during the first meeting of Erlanger’s Diversity Task Force on April 26.

Wilson, a task force leader and Erlanger City Council member, was happy to play a role in reviving the task force, which dissolved in 2022. During the first meeting, members discussed the diverse history of different groups in and around Erlanger, the history of the task force itself and the group’s goals before holding a brainstorming session with attendees.

“I have always been embraced in my community and in my neighborhood,” Wilson said. “What I hope to accomplish is to get others involved in what’s happening in this city.”

She had been a member of the prior task force and began the movement to bring it back. She hopes the group can address the varying and specific needs of communities within the city.

Wilson and her daughter Serena Owen, who is Elsmere’s first elected African American council member, led the meeting. They gave a brief history of noteworthy African American events and figures from local history, including Rosella Porterfield, who led efforts to integrate Erlanger and Elsmere schools in 1956 after the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling that public school segregation is unconstitutional.

They also played a video from Kenton County Public Library that highlighted the historical significance of the region for Black people.

The task force will focus not only on racial diversity and inclusiveness, Owen said, but also on other forms of diversity, as well, including issues related to the LGBTQ community.

One idea pitched at the meeting was a city ordinance that would ban discrimination in schools and workplaces based on hair style and growth pattern.

“Hair discrimination is real,” Owen said. “It’s a real issue for folks, especially people of color, people who wear their natural hair, like in locks or braids. To ensure that these protections are in place for all Kentuckians is a step in the right direction.”

Such an ordinance would be modeled after the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act, often shortened to the CROWN Act, which California signed into law in June 2019. Covington, Louisville and Frankfort have passed similar legislation.

Steve Klare, who served on the previous task force, recommended cultural heritage celebration events throughout the year, citing a successful and well-attended Hispanic heritage event that took place at the city building before the pandemic. He recalled a family member describing the event as “the most diverse room I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s positive, and it teaches people, it teaches everybody,” Klare said. “If we’re going to do something in the city and coordinate with the school system, those are the types of things we need.”

That kind of conversation, Wilson said after the meeting, is what a diversity task force is about.

“(It’s) to open that door, to let it be known that you can be a part of this,” she said. “And it’s open for all of the community. You don’t have to have a Ph.D. or be in the political realm. If you have a concern, you can be a part of it.”

The task force will meet on the last Wednesday of each month at the Erlanger City Building to discuss diversity initiatives and policies. Owen said a similar task force will be instituted in Elsmere, as well.

Erlanger residents who would like to get involved should contact Council member Renee Wilson at 859-802-1214 or renee. wilson@cityoferlanger.com.