BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON - Despite their differences and their weighty goal, the women making up the Covington unit of Church Women United are taking great strides toward improving race relations.
The group, whose members belong to eight denominations, wants the city's public and parochial teachers to acknowledge racist overtones in some curricula and lesson plans.
The group will meet with teachers and try to drive their lesson home.
"If we can make a dent, we'll be very happy," said Sherri Chapin, pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church in Ludlow and president of Church Women United's Covington unit.
Church Women United is a longstanding group that has three branches in Northern Kentucky. Besides the Covington group, there is a Campbell County unit and a Tri-City unit representing Erlanger, Elsmere and Florence. Members of all three met in September 1997 and agreed that each of the units would focus on one goal.
The Covington group focused on race relations after a black resident returned home one Halloween night to learn that someone had burned a cross in his yard. White hats and sheets marked with "KKK" and swastikas also were left.
About 20 women from various denominations - including Baptist, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Episcopalian and African Methodist Episcopalian - make up the Covington unit.
At their first monthly meetings, they focused on getting to know one another. They also discussed racial stereotypes and how life was different for some of them in Northern Kentucky, where African-Americans truly are a minority.
In Covington, African-Americans make up less than 10 percent of the total population, according to 1990 U.S. Census data.
Many double standards were noted at those first meetings, the Rev. Ms. Chapin said.
The group has conducted a letter-writing campaign in support of hate-crime legislation. Members have participated in the statewide Conversation on Race, and they also helped organize the Nov. 14 Building Hospitable Communities event, which focused on making Northern Kentucky a better place to live for all people.
The group will spend the next months focused on organizing a late-summer training session with teachers from Covington Independent Public Schools and Covington Diocesan Schools. The Rev. Ms. Chapin already is working with administrators.
Church Women United plans to emphasize that some curricula should be more inclusive. For example, English students need to read more books by black authors, the Rev. Ms. Chapin said.
"We're hoping to educate the educators on the curriculum out there and show teachers the detrimental effects of even subtle racism."
Educators are open to the idea.
"Certainly, it's needed," said Lawrence Bowman, education director for the Diocese of Covington. "We certainly need to work on stereotypes. We don't have ethnic diversity. We need to be conscious of that and work on that."
"Any interaction around these issues is vitally important for our society and our community," said Col Owens, chairman for the Covington Board of Education. A training session promoting dialogue and exchange of ideas "would be of great value for all participants."
Sister Janet Bucher sits on the Covington Diocesan Board of Education. She also is the pastoral administrator at Our Savior Roman Catholic Church in Covington. The congregation of about 50 families is predominantly black.
She began attending Church Women United meetings when she learned that members were determined to improve race relations. She now is on a committee to organize the training session with teachers. "Racism today is a little more undercurrent," she said. "It's not as open as it was back in the 1950s or before the civil rights movement. But there still are a lot of ways in which African-Americans are not treated equally.
"If we can get the children (to take notice), perhaps we can make a difference."
The Rev. Sheldon Rox, a field supervisor for the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, said Church Woman United has advanced in ways that most groups haven't.
"They're not just talking," he said. "They're trying to implement programs. They're not going to sit back and be reactive. They're being proactive."
