Sussex County doesn’t seem to have a problem, then, why march. I lived in New York and Massachusetts and witnessed police misconduct against Blacks. I have heard firsthand of Black people being discriminated against in stores and restaurants in Rehoboth. Most times when I see local advertisements of spas, real estate companies and other businesses, it is all white.
Lewes had a relatively recent history of diversity in a police chief and mayor, but we have been ruled by an all-white conservative council for several years. Perhaps gentrification makes it unlikely we will have a Black councilperson. Attempts to rename a street were met with pseudo racism cloaked in other protestations of change.
I lived in Connecticut and wondered early as a professor about safety in our schools, but was a lonely voice - told it can never happen here; and then Sandy Hook. So what can happen in Minneapolis can happen anywhere. What I need to know is that a choke hold is not authorized as a procedure under any state, county or local police force. What I need to know is are all police wearing body cameras? What I would like is that a racial slur gives rise to an actionable civil complaint with automatic damages.
What I would like is to have textbooks teaching children the real story of slavery. What I would like to see in all school districts, Black teachers and administrators to serve as role models and mentors to Black children. What I would like to see is whites reaching out to Black people and not staring as they drive, bike or walk through a neighborhood. I am tired of hearing “A change is goanna come” and “It is time for a change” with no change.
Police have been videotaped killing Black men, women and children with no consequence. I remember clearly the beating of Roger King on tape; trial moved to another venue so an all-white jury could acquit the police officers. Videotaping notwithstanding, police actions against Black people continue the history of modern-day lynching. I am almost 75 years old, and I hear Black people continuing to demand justice with little arguable progress. If I march, I march for those who cannot march, for their memory and to show my support with those who chose to march. It is not Black people who need to see change, it is whites. But given the present president, and reference to a glorious history, it seems Black voices continue to fall on deaf ears.
Alicia Jones
Lewes
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