Cut cancer of racism by raising voices
Let us be clear and unequivocal — racism has no place in our society. Racism is never acceptable; racism should never be excused.
That we even need to say it again is troubling. But we — and everyone — must.
Racism rose out of the muck Monday night when several people anonymously “Zoom bombed” U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes in a virtual listening session with about 40 Newtown constituents. The first man shouted “Shut up n-word.” Hayes froze, and smiled. But when the disrupter was muted, another intercepted with the n-word on a loop set to music, was removed from the meeting and then two more got on to repeat the vile insult in what no doubt was a coordinated attack.
It was six minutes of vitriol that had to be horrifying to the 5th District constituents watching.
“Words matter and they cut deep, no matter how hard you try to suppress or ignore them — words hurt,” Hayes, the first Black congresswoman representing Connecticut, wrote in a powerful essay she posted Tuesday.
Words hurt when they expose the ugliness in someone’s heart.
Hardly an isolated incident, this is yet one more example of the deep division in our country. The pandemic, which has affected Black and Latino people disproportionately, exposed disparity in health care and employment. (In July, Hayes introduced a House resolution declaring racism a public health crisis; a similar resolution was introduced in the Senate.) The death of George Floyd at the knee of a Minneapolis police officer in May exposed systemic racism and led to marches around the country, including across Connecticut.
Racism is not new, but its expression has been encouraged in recent years by top leadership of our country. When hundreds of white supremacists rallied to “Unite the Right” in Charlottsville, Virginia, three years ago and turned a protest over a confederate statue deadly, President Donald Trump said there were “good people” on both sides. Two weeks ago during a presidential debate with former Vice President Joe Biden, he refused to condemn white supremacy. Instead he said of the white supremacist group Proud Boys, “Stand back, stand by.” They immediately took it as support from the president.
Principled Republicans should denounce — emphatically — the president’s refusal to condemn the poison of white supremacy. There are no acceptable excuses or deflections from the issue.
The racist taint of Congresswoman Hayes’ session with her constituents should not be considered an isolated incident. No one should look away.
As she said, “Stop saying it doesn’t happen here” or dismiss it as anecdotal. “Have an honest conversation about what we are all experiencing.”
Will you be part of that conversation? Will you recognize racism for the hate it is and condemn it?
As Hayes said, “The only way we can cut the cancer of racism out of our communities is by calling it out when we see it and raising our collective voices to get rid of it.”
Racism rose out of the muck Monday night when several people anonymously ‘Zoom bombed’ U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes in a virtual listening session with about 40 Newtown constituents.