HUTCHINSON, Kan. — With Sunday's protest and Tuesday's roundtable in the past, NAACP President Darrell Pope says things need to keep moving forward when it comes to race relations within the community and the police department.
“I think we’ve gotten the players involved who have the ability to make things happen,” Darrell Pope said. “At least we’ve got a commitment that they’re interested in wanting to discuss and work to get meaningful results.”
A protest march that was put together by a local resident caused concern for the safety of protesters and the public. The march was not supported by the NAACP and was eventually postponed from its original Friday date to a more condensed version on Saturday. Pope took the time to comment on what residents need to do to make sure their voice is heard in a peaceful and organized manner.
“First of all, you need to recognize or at least notify those persons who are going to be responsible for making sure you have a successful event,” Pope said. “Whenever there’s some civil disobedience you always have to get the law enforcement involved so there’s some kind of control.”
Pope says it is still plenty of work ahead to find permanent peace along racial lines but the work with local leaders is a good start.
“You sit down with those who can affect change and have the authority to see that change happens,” Pope said. “ And you start working with those people in trying to come up with positive ways to move forward.”
Pope says it will be a long road but hopes the city can come together and continued to stress the need to take a proactive approach and not reactive.