Last spring I was in the hallways at Mansfield St. Peter's to pick up my son from school when I stumbled across an old friend.
Roy Shoulders has been teaching and coaching at St. Peter's for decades. A couple of years ago I wrote a recommendation for Roy when he applied for one of the number of positions he's had during his tenure at the institution.
Richland Source managing editor Larry Phillips and St. Peter's teacher and graduate Roy Shoulders discuss the issues of the day. Today the topic is Shoulders becoming the first Black teacher at Mansfield St. Peter's.
For those who don't know Roy, he's wildly popular in the classroom (he was the Class of 2022's featured speaker at graduation), and in the coaching community (where he's worked on the sidelines of boys and girls basketball teams for three decades at St. Peter's and Mansfield Senior).
This time, upon seeing Roy, we naturally fell into a conversation that led into his classroom. While talking and joking and catching up, I noticed the work his students had turned in on various historic topics. They adorned his walls, and triggered an even longer conversation, as we are both history buffs -- and in Roy's case a teacher of the subject.
All the while, my son sat at a desk, knowing his father was nowhere near the end of this visit.
What came out of that energetic discussion was Roy's inspiration.
What if we sit down and turn on a video camera and see where the discussion takes us?
We routinely talk about some of the stuff that can be tough to discuss publicly -- as lots of friends tend to do.
But among friends, especially when you know the other person well and for a significant length of time, a trust level exists that if the wrong thing is said, it comes from a place of ignorance, not hostility.
Such trust leads to a chance to talk frankly about topics that have become, in some cases, radically divisive issues: social media, politics, religion, race, the media, the Supreme Court, gun control, abortion, and more. We both like history, current events, and sports, so many times we see issues through those particular prisms.
We agree and disagree, like most Americans do, on a wide range across the spectrum. But finding a way to disagree, without being disagreeable, seems to have become a lost art. That too is a subject worth exploring.
With all that in mind, today we present the first episode of Beyond Black and White, and see where Roy's idea takes us. We filmed this episode on July 8 here at Idea Works in downtown Mansfield.
Today's topic is an introductory piece discussing Roy's status as the first Black teacher at Mansfield St. Peter's School.
I've lived in Richland Co. since 1990, married here, our children were born here. This is home. I have two books published on a passion topic, Ohio high school football. Others: Buckeyes, Cavs, Bengals, Reds, History, Disney.
