Evanston’s Human Relations Commission met Wednesday to try to resolve community unrest still festering following racially-charged comments made at a school board meeting last month.
Hecky Powell, the vice president of the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board, used the word “mutts” when criticizing a “multiracial” category on a school form at a March 24 meeting.
Following Powell’s comments, some community activists called for his resignation and, eventually, the entire board’s.
Powell, who is black, has said he never intended to hurt anyone. He also said he includes himself in the multiracial category because he is part Creole.
The Human Relations Commission convened an emergency meeting April 12. It passed a resolution urging the school board to resolve the issue. But in the middle of the controversy, the commission, which exists to ease community tension, never got a chance to present its resolution to the board.
Wednesday’s meeting explained why.
The April 12 meeting was deemed illegal by the city because residents were not given five-days notice of the meeting, as required by the commission’s bylaws, said Chairman Michael Cervantes.
“We were not interested in reproach, not interested in resignation and not interested in silencing anyone,” Cervantes said. “We were only interested in expressing our concern.”
Cervantes was to present the commission’s resolution to the District 65 board at its April 14 meeting, but things did not go as planned.
The rancor over the “mutts” remark reached its peak at that meeting. Powell apologized for his comments and the board passed a resolution calling the remarks insensitive. But board members still supported Powell in his position as vice president.
Cervantes said Wednesday that before the school board meeting he received calls from Mayor Lorraine H. Morton and City Manager Roger Crum informing him of the problems with the April 12 meeting. As a result, Cervantes made no statement to the school board on the issue.
To prevent a similar situation from occurring in the future, the commission has amended its bylaws so that special meetings only require 48 hours notice — the same as most city bodies.
The commission has faced some criticism because it did not invite Powell to its meetings, though his wife did attend.
Bennett J. Johnson of the 700 block of Washington Street, was one of the people at Wednesday’s meeting to say he thought Powell should have been invited.
“He’s a public official,” Johnson said. “It’s just a matter of professional courtesy, that’s all.”
Johnson went on to say the commission should look at the bigger picture.
“Very often when something like this happens, we get caught up in the procedure,” Johnson said. “The problem is not Hecky Powell. The problem is racism, the institutional racism that exists in this city.”
