Conflict at protest gives way to dialogue
Peaceful exchange of views follows tension as opposing groups gather
Angry shouting yielded to peaceful discussion Sunday afternoon, Aug. 9, as protesters and counter-protesters faced off outside the Exeter Township municipal building.
The event ended with individuals from both sides fist bumping and wishing each other well.
Local students led a demonstration intended as a celebration of culture and identity and unity against discrimination based on race, ethnicity, national origin, sexuality and gender, said Simone Miller, an organizer and 2020 graduate of Exeter High School.
“This is not a targeted demonstration against members of our Exeter Police Department or any branch of our Exeter first responders,” the Penn State freshman said, reading from a social media post organizers made the previous week. “Our main goal is to showcase our diversity and support for marginalized groups in our community.”
The nonviolent demonstration was the latest in a series of area rallies this spring and summer
supporting equal rights for all and protesting discrimination, systemic racism and police brutality.
Police vehicles escorted about 150 students and supporters along the approximately 2-mile route from Exeter High School to the municipal building on DeMoss Road.
“This is the most American act we are doing now,” said Jahlil Little. “This was the first act Americans did: protest.”
Little, 20, of Reading was one of the most vocal participants, leading chants and greeting supporters along the way.
As the marchers neared the intersection of Gibraltar and DeMoss roads, they encountered a group of about 20 counter-protesters.
Kneeling in the street, the protesters chanted “Black lives matter,” while counter-protesters shouted “No new world order.”
“I am just protecting our community,” one of the most vocal counter-protesters said after the event.
The Exeter resident, who identified himself only as J.K., said he was there to show his support of the township police department in the event the protest became violent and that he had no animosity toward the peaceful protesters.
After a brief exchange of words, both groups moved to a shaded area near the municipal building.
Counterprotesters continued shouting at the demonstrators as the group began line dancing in a show of solidarity.
The shouting died down when the dancing ended and participants took to the microphone to share personal stories of facing discrimination due to race, disability or sexual orientation.
Hope Davis, 18, a 2020 Exeter graduate, said she has struggled with her identity as a Black person for as long as she can remember.
The Millersville University freshman said she was adopted as an infant by a white family and will never know what it is like to grow up with Black culture in a Black neighborhood.
“But lately something clicked,” she said. “No matter who I was raised by and where I grew up, there is one constant that ties me to my Black brothers and sisters: the blackness of my skin will always be viewed as a threat, as something undesirable and be weaponized in the eyes of the ignorant.”
As the assembly began to disperse, small groups of protesters and counterprotesters gathered to exchange ideas and opposing views.
“I came out here to educate myself on both sides,” said Jackson Farley, 18, an Amity Township homeschooled senior who stood on the sidelines waving a U.S. flag during the assembly.
“I am a conservative,” he said. “I am definitely on the right side, but I do believe that we should come together in unity in our community. We can come to a compromise, and I think that is where our country needs to be.”