We were friendly to customers, answering questions about why we were there. A couple of days before, the regional Starbucks office finally banned the racist from their stores. But we know that the next step is to get them to listen to and support their Black partners from the start — not just wait for white wealthy customers to say something.
We disbanded at around 9:30 a.m., and at 10 a.m. a second group from Fairfield came to the same location (I had heard they were coming and asked them to join us at the earlier time, but they politely declined).
When they arrived, it was immediately clear that their agenda was not the same as ours. It was not to support our community, but to disrupt it. They taunted the police. They blocked the entrance to Starbucks. They disrupted downtown merchants who are already struggling. They even surrounded a woman getting out of her car, calling her a “Karen” and videoing her. Eventually they blocked the roads.
I am in support of protesting against police brutality, which was clearly this group’s focus, judging from what they were yelling. The thing is, our friend at Starbucks did not experience police brutality.
Rather, he experienced hideous racism from a customer, and then the systemic, corporate racism that supported her atrocious behavior. The police offered him whatever support he needs, and he never claimed to have experienced any negative treatment by them. In fact he has repeatedly told me how overwhelmed he felt with the support and love he has received from all of us in Westport.
This town welcomes support from our neighbors in other towns. But the Fairfield group did nothing to support us. They distracted everyone from the important facts. Their anger toward police, our merchants, and our community was a destructive misfire and did not effectuate awareness or change.
As a teacher and as an organizer of protests, I look for windows of opportunity so we may educate ourselves and each other — and to strengthen our community. Communities that feel united stand up for one another, and that is what we were doing.
Racism is an insidious machine which thrives on opacity. I am always learning how little I know. But in order to make change, we need to look closely at the intricacies of what is happening, and be clear with our audience.
I have learned the hard way that anger can blind us and make us sloppy, hurting the very cause we are setting out to support. Misguided, unfounded messages solidify polarization, shut down debate, and worse, distract from the culprits. This allows companies like Starbucks to quietly close their doors to the messy distractions outside, and return to the unethical business practices which facilitate the very racism we see on our feeds and TV screens.
Nelson Mandela said, “education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” Education may not be a release for anger, and it is not always exciting. But it is the key to the change we desperately need. I am proud of how our town is responding to incidents of racism, and I know we can continue to be better and better. We just need to stay on task, because the task is huge.
We were friendly to customers, answering questions about why we were there. A couple of days before, the regional Starbucks office finally banned the racist from their stores. But we know that the next step is to get them to listen to and support their Black partners from the start — not just wait for white wealthy customers to say something.
We disbanded at around 9:30 a.m., and at 10 a.m. a second group from Fairfield came to the same location (I had heard they were coming and asked them to join us at the earlier time, but they politely declined).
When they arrived, it was immediately clear that their agenda was not the same as ours. It was not to support our community, but to disrupt it. They taunted the police. They blocked the entrance to Starbucks. They disrupted downtown merchants who are already struggling. They even surrounded a woman getting out of her car, calling her a “Karen” and videoing her. Eventually they blocked the roads.
I am in support of protesting against police brutality, which was clearly this group’s focus, judging from what they were yelling. The thing is, our friend at Starbucks did not experience police brutality.
Rather, he experienced hideous racism from a customer, and then the systemic, corporate racism that supported her atrocious behavior. The police offered him whatever support he needs, and he never claimed to have experienced any negative treatment by them. In fact he has repeatedly told me how overwhelmed he felt with the support and love he has received from all of us in Westport.
This town welcomes support from our neighbors in other towns. But the Fairfield group did nothing to support us. They distracted everyone from the important facts. Their anger toward police, our merchants, and our community was a destructive misfire and did not effectuate awareness or change.
As a teacher and as an organizer of protests, I look for windows of opportunity so we may educate ourselves and each other — and to strengthen our community. Communities that feel united stand up for one another, and that is what we were doing.
Racism is an insidious machine which thrives on opacity. I am always learning how little I know. But in order to make change, we need to look closely at the intricacies of what is happening, and be clear with our audience.
I have learned the hard way that anger can blind us and make us sloppy, hurting the very cause we are setting out to support. Misguided, unfounded messages solidify polarization, shut down debate, and worse, distract from the culprits. This allows companies like Starbucks to quietly close their doors to the messy distractions outside, and return to the unethical business practices which facilitate the very racism we see on our feeds and TV screens.
Nelson Mandela said, “education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” Education may not be a release for anger, and it is not always exciting. But it is the key to the change we desperately need. I am proud of how our town is responding to incidents of racism, and I know we can continue to be better and better. We just need to stay on task, because the task is huge.
