Helping Ojai Celebrate Diversity

As one of the few black men living in Ojai, Troy Barner sometimes feels like an ambassador for an entire race and sometimes a mere token.

Neither is true, but the mere perception can be exhausting.

“I get constant attention. I sort of represent African Americans to a lot of people here,” said the tall, well-dressed Barner, who is producing this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration in Ojai. “I do want people to see my color. It would be an insult if they didn’t see me as a black man.”

While Ojai has an abundance of natural beauty and eclectic lifestyles, it lacks much in the way of ethnic diversity. The latest census figures show the city of 7,862 has only about 50 black residents.

So Barner, 32, knew he was entering a different world.

Originally from Inglewood, he moved to the area almost two years ago to take a job as a program director for the Ojai Valley Youth Foundation. One of his tasks is training students how to appreciate diversity among themselves.

But he was initially worried how people would treat him.

“A lot of blacks would have ruled out a place like this, but I wanted to give Ojai a chance,” he said.

His first test was renting an apartment.

“I had some anxiety, but the landlady was really nice and has become a good friend of mine,” he said. “I moved in and wanted to go for a walk. I expected something to happen. I was nervous, but people talked to me and I feel at home now.”

Barner is a relaxed, soft-spoken man with a ready sense of humor. He doesn’t take offense easily, which is just as well given that during his time in Ojai, people have assumed he is an ace basketball player, a fan of rap music and a rough homeboy from a violent neighborhood.

The assumptions can be annoying.

“People will find something that doesn’t quite work well and they will say ‘Oh man, that is so ghetto,’ and I say, ‘Man, what do you know about the ghetto?” he said.

Barner grew up as one of three children. One of his brothers was developmentally disabled and later died. He barely knew his father. His mother raised the children largely on public assistance after she was injured on the job.

Barner returns to Inglewood when he needs a “fix” of black culture. On Sundays, he sings in the choir at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara. Every time he walks into the church or through the streets of Inglewood, he breathes a bit easier.

The pressure to always set a good example can be exhausting, and he often feels as if he represents all black people in the eyes of the community.

“I sometimes feel like an ambassador,” he said. “The fact that I live here and do the kind of work I do and that I’m a black man is significant. If you look at the statistics, black men aren’t faring too well in this country. With me, people here can interact with a black man in a positive way. There is a feeling sometimes that you are a token, but I try to get over that.”

Suzie Nixon Bohnett, associate director of the foundation, hired Barner. He previously organized conferences at Westmont College in Santa Barbara.

“He’s introverted and artistic and uses that sensitivity well,” said Bohnett.

She said his ethnicity benefits the foundation.

“It’s been very helpful because so much of our work is about diversity,” she said. “Troy’s sensitivity about being black in Ojai helps bring that to the surface, and he can talk about himself as a human being. I think his young life is very much an open book. He jumps right in and relates well to young people.”

Carol Grier held Barner’s job before he did.

“I think it’s really courageous of him as a black man to come into a white community and do the things he’s doing,” she said.

Barner coordinates three projects, supervises high school volunteers and is a member of the foundation’s management team.

He was recently telling one young staffer about his fear of being pulled over by a potentially racist police officer.

“A mistake on a black man’s part will cost him much more than a mistake by a white man,” he told the 17-year-old, who nodded.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Libbey Park and Chaparral Continuation High School.

It will include theater productions, African drumming, live music, student essay and art contests and speakers on multiculturalism from UC Santa Barbara.

“Martin Luther King’s great goal was to set African Americans free in this society,” Barner said.

“We have a right to be in this country and part of this society and to live where we want--like in Ojai.”