CANFIELD — Mayor Richard Duffett said at the beginning of this year that if Canfield is perceived as a racist community, he wants to change that.

His goal is beginning to be realized with the formation of Canfield R.E.D. (Racial Equality and Diversity), and its first public meeting is set 5 to 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Canfield library.

“We will be looking for a discussion from the community on what they think,” Duffett said.

He said the mission for Canfield R.E.D is to commit to understanding the community’s past and present while actively working for racial justice to become a more welcoming place to all people.

Leading up to the formation of this new group was the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. That spurred local Black Lives Matter rallies on the Village Green on June 21 and July 26 — the latter being called “Solidarity in the Suburbs.”

What really kicked the ball into high gear happened on Jan. 26 of this year, when a post to a Facebook group showed three students in a 1979 Canfield High School yearbook pictured in Ku Klux Klan regalia, with a cross. Heated online discussions followed, and the post was eventually removed. After that incident, Duffett said he was compelled to do something.

He contacted a handful of friends and had a discussion. After several meetings, the Canfield R.E.D committee was formed, and a goal was set.

“Our motto is, ‘The City that Cares,'” Duffett said. “We need to look at Canfield’s past and present, and the direction we are heading.”

WIDE SPECTRUM

The initial committee is made up of 13 people from a wide spectrum in the community. Ashley Kanotz was selected to chair the committee. The other 12 are Duffett, Chuck Coleman, Bruce Neff, David Moore, the Rev. Duane Jesse from Zion Lutheran Church, the Rev. Ivy Smith from Canfield United Methodist Church, Canfield Superintendent Joe Knoll, John Vitto, Penny Wells (Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past), Sally Ifill, Terrill Vidale and Larry Boward.

“Each person in our committee has been active since George Floyd,” Kanotz said. “At first we were just holding discussions, then it grew. We are a group who just wants to make things better.”

She said a lot of the early meetings were discussions on which way to go and what to do next. Kanotz said the committee came up with two goals. The first is declaring a year of learning about racial injustice, and the second is to establish a Canfield community profile.

“I have always wanted to leave something better than I found it,” she said.

The objective for the end of 2021 and for 2022 is to learn about the history of the Canfield community regarding race.

At the upcoming public meeting on Monday, Kanotz said the committee will have a presentation and afterward will entertain questions from the public. The rest of the year the committee will make plans for 2022 that will include a Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past workshop in February, and more public sessions in May, August and October.

“We are hoping for a good turnout,” Duffett said.

For updates, https://canfieldred.weebly.com/

jtwhitehouse@vindy.com