Hispanic Task Force works to unite community

By Courtney Warren
A peaceful and united community is what the Hispanic Task Force strives for. Recently, the task force held a community meeting led by task force chair Angela Carson to update the community on what the task force has been working on. 
“We had approximately seventy people in attendance.  The goal of the meeting was to update the community on what we have been working on. It was also another opportunity to listen and hear concerns from the community.  This is the third public meeting we have held in 2021,” said Carson. 
The task force began as the result of the triple murders in December 2020 where three Hispanic community members were killed. 
“We began focusing on how to help the family initially, and broadened the work to look at the problems plaguing our community across racial and cultural lines,” said Carson. 
The task force gave recommendations to the Canton Mayor William Truly, as well as to the Canton Board of Aldermen. 
The recommendations included hiring a translation service for the City, providing more lighting on the streets in the trailer park, paving and/or resurfacing the streets in the trailer park, meeting with property owners to discuss conditions of the trailers internally and externally, having the police department report more frequently about crimes that have been solved, hiring a bi-lingual speaking staff to serve as an interpreter for the City, providing cultural sensitivity training for all City employees, and hiring a dispatcher and police officer who are bilingual.
Carson wants to work towards uniting the Hispanic community with the rest of the Canton community for several reasons. 
“They are human, just like we are. They contribute to the local economy, and they are a growing population in the city and county. We are creating division if we continue to ignore them and not address their concerns for fair, equal and inclusive treatment,” said Carson. 
Carson encourages all community members to get involved. 
She said, “They can contact me at 601-955-1132.  The task force is a committee of nine people.  There will be opportunities to serve on future committees in Education, Workforce, Health, and Safety.”