Stop Pretending Those Aren’t Your Values
Your Community Isn’t What it Says, But What it Does
After every heinous act committed in America, there’s an inevitable press conference or news release from a public official stating this “doesn’t reflect the values of our community.”
Chatham, MA, is a small seaside town where two teenage white boys invited their Black “friend” to join them at a pond. The two boys threw stones at the Black boy, forcing him to enter the water. They took turns holding him underwater, ignoring protests from the Black kid, who couldn’t breathe. They laughed and called him “George Floyd” and “nigger,” until an adult broke it up.
One of the boys was charged with attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in what the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office called a racially motivated incident. It wasn’t long before the statements proclaimed this w…
