The Origins of the Boyertown Area Unity Coalition
The BAUC was founded in late 1994 after a black youth was harassed in the nearby town of Bechtelsville, PA. In its five years of existence, the coalition has had its ups-and-downs--from the occasional sparse attendance at meetings to the sustained and overwhelming response to Project Lemonade--but it has remained proactive and creative in its attempts to deal with problems of hate and intolerance in the Boyertown area. Below is the November 24, 1994 Boyertown Area Times report describing the origins of the coalition.
Racial incident prompts formation of coalition
By Jeff Bell, Times EditorNews of a racially motivated incident in Bechtelsville has prompted the formation of a 'unity coalition' to combat bigotry and promote racial harmony in the municipalities that comprise the Boyertown Area School District.
Approximately 45 local religious leaders, municipal and law enforcement officials, school officials and community residents met at the Boyertown Area Senior High School Monday evening at the urging of BASH acting principal Roy Cubbler. As the audience listened, Cubbler recounted a disturbing act of racial intimidation that occurred in Bechtelsville the evening of September 21.
Cubbler said he had met with two high school students -- one black, one white -- during school hours on September 21 in an attempt to diffuse a verbal classroom altercation. Cubbler said the two students revealed that their argument was a continuation of a previous disagreement involving several students that had occurred at a Gilbertsville eatery. Cubbler said both young men told him they would try not to bring their disagreements to school in the future.
While attending a meeting at the Boyertown Education Center that evening, Cubbler was interrupted by a visit from his 31 year-old son, a resident of Bechtelsville. Cubbler's son said he had seen five or six truckloads of adults and teens combing the Borough of Bechtelsville for the black student that Cubbler had spoken to earlier that day. Cubbler said his son reported that some of the individuals in the pick-up trucks were shouting racial slurs and wielding baseball bats.
Cubbler left the Ed Center meeting and drove to Bechtelsville, where he discovered that Corp. Jack Harris of the Colebrookdale District Police Department had corralled the truckloads of individuals into the Bechtelsville Community Park. According to Cubbler, Harris questioned the individuals and diffused the situation. Harris told Cubbler that between 60 and 75 men and teenage boys and girls were driving through town looking for the black youth. Chief Christopher Schott of the Colebrookdale District Police Department, on hand at the unity coalition meeting, said Cubbler had provided an accurate account Of the September 21 incident.
Cubbler and BASH police officer Robert Johnson then went to the Bechtelsville home of the black youth, a 17-year-old senior whose identity is being protected by The Times. Cubbler said the young man told him that several individuals had driven up to his home and uttered racial slurs.
"I cannot explain to you how I felt at that time," Cubbler told the community leaders. "I felt bad because we had one young man, and six truckloads of people were out to get him. And I felt bad because here was a familY coming out of this home, and ... they were frightened. And I don't mind telling you that I was absolutely petrified."
The student told Cubbler he was physically unharmed, and insisted on attending school the following morning. Cubbler arranged for officer Johnson to discreetly shadow the student throughout the day. "Fortunately, we had no incident that day," said Cubbler. "Since that time, we've only had one other problem in the school. But as a result of that incident, I got in touch with some of our (district personnel), and we've already established a human relations organization called Parents and Interested Adults for the High School. But I thought other people should know about this.
"We've had incidents at the high school before that had racial overtones. Last year, we had quite a few. This year, we've had one or two. But that one particular incident was the scariest thing I've ever been involved with in my life, and I don't want that to happen again. To me, that little incident was the tip of the iceberg." Cubbler said he had assembled the community leaders to suggest that an organization be formed to promote racial tolerance and multiculturalism in the Boyertown area. Cubbler said the organization would receive the assistance of the Boyertown Area School District, but should be spearheaded by prominent community representatives.
"I ... think it has to be a community-based thing; it can't be the school's by themselves," said Cubbler. "The schools are microcosms of the community. What's happening out there is immediately felt in here. That's why it's so important that we get on this."
Ann Van Dyke, Assistant to the Director of Education & Community Services for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Committee, told the community leaders that a unity coalition was necessary in the Boyertown area to combat what she characterized as a local uprising of "hate groups" such as the Ku Klux Klan.
Van Dyke, who for the past six years has worked with communities across Pennsylvania to combat bigotry and promote racial tolerance, said the membership and activities of hate groups have been increasing across the state at an alarming rate. She said 54 separate organized hate groups have been catalogued in the state by the Human Relations Committee. According to the organization's research, five hate groups --largely offshoots of the KKK-- exist in Bechtelsville.
"And don't ever think they're going to go away if we just wait them out," said Van Dyke. "Silence is the welcome mat for hate. We all desperately believe that if we ignore it, it will go away. And when something racist or antisemitic happens in our community, we rush to name it an isolated incident. And as soon as we do that, that means we don't need to do a thing about it, because we've (labelled) it an isolated incident. I'm here to tell you, hate always has roots. It doesn't just pop up once."
She applauded the cross-section of community leaders that expressed interest in forming a unity coalition in the Boyertown area.
"This is heartening. Folks, you're on a roll already," she said. "Your job is to create a moral tone in this town and in this school (district) that rejects bigotry and respects all people. It's not enough just to reject bigotry. There's another step -- we have to create an environment that respects all people."
After lengthy discussion in a small-group format and as a larger unit, the assemblage of community leaders and residents expressed interest in creating a unity coalition for the Boyertown area. The group set a second meeting date for Monday, December 12 in the new LGI room at the high school.
Newstell Marabla, president of the Pottstown chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), expressed strong support for the unity coalition concept.
"Boyertown is not the only one that has (racial) problems; it's a problem throughout the country," Marabla said. "We can move things along because we are concerned."
