By David Fortier
On a day when the sky never cleared but the rain stopped for a while, a small group of people gathered for another community discussion about diversity, equity and inclusion at the Mrs. Rockwell’s Amphitheater late Sunday afternoon.
“There needs to be more acknowledgement, words actually spoken, like white supremacy and racism,” said organizer Melina Floyd-Torres, in her opening comments. “You just can’t start this end hate campaign and parade around town saying, ‘end hate, end hate’ and not actually define the hate that we are actually trying to end.”
Several speakers, she said, decided to pull out of the event since the rain was still falling at 4 p.m. when the event was scheduled to begin. Sixteen people attended, and once again, as she did for the previous conversation on Todd Street–the location where a small group of white supremacists gathered a week before–Floyd-Torres live streamed the event to her Facebook page.
“Denouncing white supremacy and racism, it’s not just saying those words which seems to be such a big problem right now, just saying the words, but it’s also setting a tone and an example of how we want to be viewed as a town,” Floyd-Torres said.
The event, which was scheduled to end at 6 p.m. wrapped up a little early, but not before covering a wide range of issues, other than the mayor and city’s tepid response to the presence of white supremacists which has been a consistent theme of these conversations for over a year.
Cloaked in platitudes and pat expressions, the mayor’s response extended, most recently, to the discovery of racist tropes in the posts of the then-Bristol Farmers Market manager’s personal Facebook page. The mayor posted a video announcing the person’s resignation but stopped short of condemning the posts or the individual’s actions.
Event organizer Melina Floyd-Torres, upper left, clockwise; B.A.R.B.’s Adam Antar; Bristol Interfaith Coalition’s Craig Minor; members of the audience; Democratic candidates for city council David Landi and Bristol Board of Education Corey Nagle, respectively. | Laura Bailey photos
The mayor was among those messaged an invitation to the event, Floyd-Torres said, but she did not hear back from him. The only interaction with him to this point, she said, has been that the mayor or someone using his handle has followed her on her Instagram account.
The point of the discussion, Floyd-Torres said, was not solely to point at the mayor’s actions but to understand the bigger problem and to figure out how to do something to address the problem and to give people from the community an opportunity to share their experiences and solutions.
Speakers included Diversity Council chair Jaymie Bianca, Bristol Anti-Racism Brigade representative Adam Antar, Bristol Interfaith Coalition’s Craig Minor and State Rep. Mary Fortier.
“It should not be hard to denounce white supremacy,” Bianca said, “to denounce racism, to denounce hate, to denounce bigotry. It should not be hard, because where to put a stoplight and where to fix a road and who has the right to feel safe, respected and loved in our city, is very different.”
She listed a number of events that the Diversity Council has sponsored to fight racism, including producing a resource list of organizations in the city that hold up diversity, equity and inclusion as part of their mission, as well as sponsoring a panel series featuring members of the community discussing autism awareness, Black History Month and Pride Month.
The council has also initiated a youth component at both high schools.
She said she is looking forward to the next discussion which will cover religious diversity and that will be held in October.
“Yet, I recognize that it isn’t enough, if our community doesn’t know who we are,” Bianca said and added, “It is not enough if our current administration in the city is not actively recruiting and retaining members of color and several diverse communities in our city.”
She acknowledged that after the current administration took office many people resigned because they felt that they could not continue under the circumstances.
“I would often get calls that said, ‘Jaymie, it’s not you but it’s the city,” she said, regarding the Diversity Council.
Bianca said that she is hopeful the mayor will appoint people at Tuesday’s City Council meeting to fill vacancies on the Diversity Council.
Antar, whose organization will be holding a rally of its own prior to Tuesday’s City Council meeting, said “I think it’s important to realize that as much as you want to flag wave and talk about how Bristol is an awesome town, we have to realize that we live in a racist world and in Bristol specifically we have these things.”
B.A.R.B. was formed after white supremacist leaflets were distributed in the northeast section of the city last summer and its organizers found the mayor’s response lacking.
“It’s only now that we’ve witnessed an increase in diversity where it almost feels like there’s hope to fight that,” he said.
It’s important, too, he added, that there are organizations where people come together, not to say they denounce white supremacy, but that support people who actually do it.
In the instance of the white supremacists who rallied on the corner of Rt. 72 and Todd Street earlier this summer, he said they positioned themselves for a quick exit but that were in Bristol to recruit new members.
“Despite all the flag waving saying this is an all-heart city, there is an issue here,” he said. “We need to come together.”
Craig Minor read a statement from the Bristol Interfaith Coalition inviting people to join in person or via Zoom in the organization’s planning session for its Thanksgiving Service. The planning session is Sept. 12 and details are available at bristolinterfaith@gmail.com.
The statement he read reminds people that the coalition arose after the Bristol Board of Education canceled a Muslim speaker, who had been scheduled to talk to students at Northeast Middle School in response to parent pressure.
The group has sponsored programs on Ramadan, honoring the earth, healing services and the United Nations as well as its annual interfaith Thanksgiving service.
As part of its mission, the group aims to build “a multi-faith community of people from all spiritual paths to connect to each other by embracing similarities and celebrating differences.”
State Rep. Mary Fortier, the lone elected official to attend the discussion, addressed a new law that the Connecticut legislature passed several years ago that allows for legislators to attach to any bill a study researching how the legislation is going to affect people of color.
“My understanding is that it’s never been used, but that’s something that we have to do because it is systemic, racism is,” she said. “Those of us that aren’t’ affected by it on a daily basis, don’t always know what’s going to affect people of color in a different way.”
“Because we do know that it’s not just the way you’re treated by people, but it’s the way the world treats you, it’s the way employers treat you, it’s the way school treats you.”
Floyd-Torres said that she plans to hold several more conversations over the next couple of months. The entire conversation is available by clicking here.
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