Nonprofit has discussion on controversial billboard
About 25 people gathered at the YWCA of Butler Wednesday night to discuss community action in the face of hateful speech and rhetoric.
Elizabeth Short, executive director of YWCA Butler, started advertising the meeting Tuesday night after a newly erected billboard in Summit Township displayed messages including “Whites are under attack stop it now!!” and “Stop teaching critical racist theory.”
The turnout to the meeting Wednesday, which also included more than 25 people attending virtually via Zoom, gave Short hope that a majority of people in Butler County do not want messages containing or bordering on hate speech in their community.
“Sometimes people use this speech to goad people,” Short said. “We want to think of constructive action for moving forward, not a reaction or fire for fire.”
The billboard, which is on the northwest side of the intersection of Route 422 and Bonniebrook Road, displays messages including “FBI corrupt & dangerous THE GESTAPO” with a large swastika; “Whites are under attack stop it now!!” with “Stop teaching critical racist theory to our kids”; “God’s law ‘marriage’ one man-one woman”; and “God prohibits same sex marriage.”
Short said the purpose of the meeting was also to unite people for forward action, and take a stance that promotes unity instead of having an immediate reaction to the billboard’s messages.
“I think it shows that our community is not going to accept or tolerate hate speech,” Short said. “This was a chance for people to really take action to spread a message of unity and tolerance.”
Several clergy members of churches in and around Butler also attended the event, with several saying they wanted to be constructive in fighting against hate speech.
Leigh Benish, pastor of Hill United Methodist Church, said she wanted to be part of the community taking action against hateful messages.
“I’m here because I say to my son, ‘You can’t control what other people do, but you can control how you respond to it,’” Benish said. “So I can’t control him putting up the sign, but I can control how I use my voice and my actions to speak to it.”
Throughout the forum, Short would suggest prompts to the room, and the people at each table would discuss their feelings on a topic, and write down ideas for constructive approaches to those topics. Short said the YWCA will host more events aimed at fighting racism and hate speech, as is part of the organization’s mission statement.
Allen Kitchen, of the North and East Butler Presbyterian churches, attended the forum, along with his wife, Mary Kitchen. They said they wanted to promote acceptance rather than being reactive, with Mary suggesting the group create their own billboards or yard signs.
Mary Kitchen said she was not only shocked by the billboard, but disappointed that it uses Christianity in its messaging.
“How can we call ourselves Christians if we’re living with that hate?” Mary Kitchen said.
