By David Tyler
Racism exists in the town of DeWitt, and Black residents of the town are often made to feel unwelcome in their own neighborhoods and schools.
That was the takeaway from a wide-ranging conversation on race and racism that the DeWitt Town Board hosted on Zoom last Wednesday. The meeting was attended virtually by more than 70 participants and was billed as a listening session for the town board members as they consider how town policies and procedures affect people of color.
Several Black residents spoke of being followed or stopped by DeWitt police while walking in their own neighborhoods. One told of a neighbor who took a video of a Black person riding a bicycle, and then went down the street showing the video to neighbors asking if anyone had had a bike stolen. Many spoke of the fear they experience when their teenage sons or adult husbands have to come home from work after dark.
Reverend Dr. H. Bernard Alex is a Black DeWitt resident and member of the DeWitt Police Commission who has lived in the town for years.
“I am still followed in my car home. I am still looked at when I’m walking. Police will ride by and look and get a good view at me,” Alex said. “No matter how educated, no matter what I’ve done, no matter how I have assailed to heights, my actions are still considered suspect.”
Shawn Carter is a resident of Springfield Gardens, a residential community in DeWitt where most of the residents are minorities. She said since she has joined the DeWitt Police Commission, the police have done a good job of getting to know the residents within Springfield Gardens, but “when we step out of Springfield Gardens that’s something totally different.”
“We need the DeWitt community to accept us a little more, because we’re part of this community and we’re human too,” she said.
When Dr. Stuart Blackwood first moved into his home near Jamesville-DeWitt High School two years ago, white neighbors came up to him while he was in his own yard not to welcome him, but to ask what he was doing there.
In the time since the killing of George Floyd, he has witnessed local residents engaging in hurtful and divisive rhetoric on Nextdoor and other social media channels. He urged the town officials to engage in those conversations and make it clear that racism is not to be tolerated in DeWitt.
“If the town of DeWitt wants to protect us and keep us safe, you need to come out and say it out loud, where you stand,” Blackwood said. “Do you support me? And should I support you when you show up in the emergency room?”
County Legislator Mary Kuhn talked about being in a group where someone asked the members of the group to give their impression of police.
“Every person of color talked about the police as someone to be afraid of or wary, and I see the police as someone to protect me,” Kuhn said. “That division was just startling.”
Kuhn suggested the town police adopt a policy of have police give every person they stop a card with their name and badge number as well as the reasoning for the stop.
“We’re going to take a deep dive into basically every policy we have,” Police Chief Chase Bilodeau responded. He said officers are required to inform people why they have been stopped and he would consider a policy of using cards for identification of the officer.
Williams was critical of both the police department and the school district for not hiring officers and teachers of color.
“I’ve been here for over 20 years and I just don’t see it,” Williams said. “You need to meet the need, because [DeWitt is] getting browner.”
“Civil service law is tying our hands on a lot of things,” said Councilor Kerin Rigney. “This has been very difficult, and it’s not for lack of trying.”
“Civil service law needs to change. We need to rewrite the antiquated law,” Bilodeau said. “It handcuffs me from hiring the best people sometimes.”
Diversity in schools
“At Moses DeWitt, we’ve experienced a great deal of anti-blackness,” said Christiana Semabia, who is part of a multi-racial family in DeWitt.
She gave several examples of how the school has failed to celebrate diversity and has reinforced negative stereotypes about Black people.
She referenced the Time’s Up J-D Instagram page, which has dozens of examples of racism by staff and students at J-D schools.
“The same things that were happening 10 years ago, were happening 20 years ago, were happening 30 years ago, are still happening today,” Semabia said. “It certainly can’t be on the backs of the youngest residents of DeWitt to change this. We all have to be committed to that change.”
“We got no Black teachers in the high school,” Paul Williams said. “We got kids of color, they look at their teacher, there’s none like them that they can relate to.”
“The miseducation of white children in our schools is a tragedy,” said Rachel Williams, who is white but has two Black sons. “We know how many Black and brown families have fled this district as a result of their experiences in our schools.”
Sparked by tragedy
While there was general appreciation for the forum, there was also recognition that without a tragedy, it would not be taking place.
“If the video of George Floyd had not gone viral, this conversation would not be going on,” said Rev. Alex. “It would still be business as usual.”
“It’s been happening to black folks for years. We’ve been telling you for years, but it fell on deaf ears until we saw George Floyd,” Paul Williams said. “You saw that and everybody says, ‘Oh, we have a problem.’ But we’ve been telling you for years.”
The town has scheduled another session to discuss changes in policing procedures on Sept. 24 at 6:30 p.m. at DeWitt Town Hall.
