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Community Corner

Unifying Communities Against Hate

Community Unity may have started as a response to a bias incident, but it has grown into a force in its own right.

Two and a half years ago the municipalities of Hightstown, East Windsor and Roosevelt were victimized by bias crimes that sent reverberations throughout Mercer County, making many to see how hate remainsl alive and well.

On January 7, 2008, three young men went on a swastika spray-painting spree hitting public monuments. The men also sprayed obscenities and anti-homosexual and various slurs, as well.

These horrific actions did not split the communities apart, but became the seeds that germinated into a grassroots movement aimed at bringing the three municipalities together under the banner of unity. And Community Unity was born.

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"We were concerned that things like that were happening and thought that cooler heads should prevail," said Stephen Bryant, chairman of Community Unity.

"People needed to talk about it and find out why these things were happening. People need to talk about different cultures, diversities and the need to find out about each other," said Bryant, a 16-year resident of East Windsor who has a manufacturing sales management background.

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Bryant, who also serves as a deacon at the Mount Olivet Baptist Church of Hightstown, said that Community Unity is a diverse group of local residents dedicated to fostering positive integration of all people, all races and all ethnicities. He said that the organization seeks to create an inclusive community that insists on high quality in the three communities' schools, housing and civic standards and at the same time, does not endorse any political party or candidate.

On a seasonably sultry summer night 10 members of Community Unity met upstairs in the chapel room of the 108-year-old Mount Olivet Church to discuss not the past but the future. The well-organized meeting began with a call to order, as if it were held in a wood-paneled town hall chamber and not a chapel adorned with stained glass.

The first order of business was the reading of the minutes from the last meeting by the organization's secretary Gretchen Bryant, Stephen's wife. Mrs. Bryant went through Community Unity's finances, including the mention of a camera purchase for $435.64. They also discussed their participation in a recent Memorial Day event, a plan to create photo identification cards for immigrants living in the three municipalities who do not have other forms of photo ID and a film festival.

Community Unity, which has a total of about 25 members, receives its funding through the Princeton Area Community Foundation--a non-profit that funds various local organizations, including the Trenton YWCA and the group Better Beginnings.

Community Unity covers a variety of issues with the mission of improving "intentional" integration, said Lenore Isleib, vice chairwoman of the group. The organization works to improve racial relationships, foster religious understanding, educate residents about political issues, create a diverse community and bring people together throughout Hightstown, East Windsor and Roosevelt.

"Community Unity was formed out of hope," Isleib said. "Out of hope that things could be different. Hope of developing a positive response to the negativity experience and if you could turn it around that is ok. All people in towns have a voice and we can celebrate our diversity in a positive way."

As time passed, the tasks changed from reactive to proactive. Following the bias incidents in 2008, Community Unity delved into different issues such as how to handle the topic of the expanding population of the immigrant community.

The organization is currently working with Edward Forsthoffer, East Windsor school superintendent who visits with the organization, parents of students within the immigrant community and Dr. David Avlos in an effort to foster greater communication.

"The outreach to the immigration population with the schools is important because some people from the immigrant population are typically afraid to reach out to the schools or navigate through the school system," Mr. Bryant said. "We are trying to be advocates for those people."

Community Unity not only hopes to increase its goals, but also its membership.

"We want our membership to grow so that more people know about the value of this group and that everyone is welcome, and that working together, we can make our town more integrated and more harmonious," Isleib said.

"All people have a voice and all races, creeds, cultures should be celebrated and that we can celebrate our diversity. Step by step we are getting more and more successful," she continued.

As the meeting closed and the  sun set, the members of Community Unity discussed next steps and the next courses of action, which include working on anti-bullying programs and holding a youth summit.

Prejudice and misunderstanding in society may very well still be alive according to the members of Community Unity, but the organization says that it is working to ensure that tolerance is as well.

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