By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — February is designated as Black History Month, but Darrell Pope, former long-time leader of the NAACP in Hutchinson, made clear Tuesday that being included in all of history is vitally important.
"I don't know why that they have relegated it to one month saying Black History," Pope said. "We're actually talking about American History, World History, because of the part that has been played. The contributions that have been made by all segments of our society, those persons that have been marginalized continue to be marginalized, even as great as their contributions were, by relegating it to one month."
Diversity is important, but inclusion is the next step to making the community equal.
"When you start providing inclusion, where everybody's brought to the table and has a chance to participate, that's one step in finding out that we all have a contribution to make," Pope said. "We all can peacefully coexist."
Dr. Hence Parson noted that it is important to make the approach in love. Pope agreed, but he also said it's incumbent on the community to continue to look for qualified people.
"If we look out across the boardroom and we see that we have certain demographics not represented, we have to be deliberate in going out and including those people," Pope said. "I think we can find them. Some excuses I hear sometimes, how do you get people involved? How do you find them? You're deliberate. You go out. I tell people all the time, if I'm looking for apples, I'm not going to go to an orange grove, I'm going to an apple orchard. You go where people are and you are deliberate about offering them those opportunities to participate."
Parson talked about offering town hall meetings, and maybe even moving some government meetings to the time when working people can participate. He also noted that in order to know history, you need to not be ashamed of it and you need to include everybody to get a true picture of what history is all about.