JAYDEN BURNS
New London junior,a three-sport athlete,has felt the heartbreak ...and hope: “It’s sad we still have to talk about (racism) ...I’m hoping that a lot will change.”
O ne word that Jayden Burns has kept coming back to in recent days is “heartbreaking.”
“It's 2020 and we're still dealing with racism and prejudice,” Burns said. “We actually had a family discussion about all that. It's sad we have to talk about it. Who you're going to be around. How you're going to act. All over something we can't control: the color of our skin.”
But for Burns, a junior at New London High School who has competed in volleyball, basketball, track and cheerleading, there is also another message she has gleaned from seeing “Black Lives Matter” protests, some in communities which aren't predominantly black.
It's a message of hope.
“It makes me proud to think that someone would do that for us,” Burns said. “All of this protesting kind of gives me hope. It makes me kind of sad because I don't know what's going to happen in the future, whether people can get over racism.
“I have hope that at least some things will change. It gives me hope. I heard the police officer (that was responsible for the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis) got charged with second-degree murder, so I'm staying educated about all that. “I'm hoping that a lot will change.” Burns, whose father Johnny is New London's football coach, has been vocal on Twitter and donates when she can to causes surrounding the protests. She was planning to attend Saturday's scheduled “We're fed up! Black Lives Matter” protest in downtown New London.
“If you can't see my blackness then you don't see me!” Burns wrote recently on Twitter.
“I see a whole bunch of videos of everyone; all 50 states in the country have participated in protesting,” she said. “We have to make sure our voices are being heard. I think it's a pretty good response to how we're being treated.
“People aren't going to stand up for you sometimes . ... It's definitely heartbreaking to have to think about how to change the world, that we're still having to deal with this.”