MARION (WSIL) -- and how the school should move forward.
Michael Neal, who graduated from Marion High School, is co-host of the 'From The Heart, For The Heart' Podcast. People in the community got to weigh in during a town hall style event through the podcast.
Neal says this should be a learning experience for everyone about the power of words and how they affect people. He also says this a good time to talk about when it's appropriate to use terms like, "racist."
"I think we just need to stop throwing it around as a catch all for everything. People can be ignorant, people can just not know what they said affected you in that manner. We just need to be more understanding that the path that you walk isn't the same as somebody else's walk. You're not exposed to the same things. That's just my message to the community," Neal said.
Neal says he also hopes people can refrain from "cancel culture" and try to find new resolutions to prevent situations like these from happening again.
Watch the full video .
