New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Candidates who would take Connecticut backwards
During the 2016 presidential election, I was working for New Haven Public Schools wondering how, if at all, the election would impact our daily lives. I remember reeling from the effects of the election but still wanting to prepare and work in favor of what students might need, in whatever way a director of communications can from her central office desk.
But we didn’t do that. We didn’t make an official statement that condemned bigotry and hate. We didn’t hand out guidance on what to expect — in part because we couldn’t have known what to expect. And while we won’t ever know the impact of our inaction, we had an opportunity to frame that time with a clear message and we didn’t take it. Our inaction and lack of leadership in a time of uncertainty created a moral vacuum.
Regardless of the results, this year’s election is going to provide the same opportunity on the local level and in businesses, school districts, academic institutions and in municipalities throughout the state. We’d be foolish to miss the opportunity again.
Even on a local level, this election has a chance to reshape our daily lives. For
the first time in longer than most people can remember, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro is facing a real challenge, from Republican contrarian Margaret Streicker, who has rooted herself in policy positions that could strip much of the work achieved by DeLauro and other progressive Democrats representing Connecticut on a federal level.
Streicker’s opposition to DeLauro is in part rooted in commentary that the incumbent has lost sight of her Italian roots because she did not actively oppose the removal of the Christopher
Columbus statue in New Haven’s Wooster Square.
To be clear, I don’t think that was directed at DeLauro herself, but instead at anyone who believes in values that obligate society to grow, adapt and evolve in the face of social change. It was to Black, brown and Native people that somehow our calls to remove figures of historical leaders who represent the violence inflicted on people of color before the founding of this country and since are unfounded or petty. Lastly, and to me perhaps most
offensive to Italians, it was a clear insult suggesting that Italian values are inherently opposed to social change and the issues that people of color face.
Similarly, state Sen. Gary Winfield is facing a challenge from Carlos Alvarado, whose key issues include “Safety for Your Family” (read: no reforms to clear issues presented, discussed and already voted upon to Connecticut’s police), “Protect Constitutional Rights” (read: more guns and attempts to challenge Connecticut’s reasonable legislative response to
Sandy Hook), and a number of other policies that will have a disproportionate impact on low-income families, public schools, public services and the people who use them.
Winfield has worked on behalf of communities of color for decades and most recently ushered in a major win for police accountability through a special legislative session that actually keeps Black and brown families safer. So when Alvarado says “Safety for Your Family,” consider for a moment who the audience is for that statement.
There’s a lot at stake in this election on the federal level, sure. But on the local level, the tangible effects of either of these regressive candidates gaining traction would change the quality of life for our state and cities.
These candidates peddle in politics that equate calls for justice to acts of divisiveness and threats to American values. Their beliefs are maladaptive, will rot any chance of progress, and disqualify them from leading our diverse and ever-evolving community.
Challenges like these depict the need for continued action in both voice and in vote. We need to shape conversations in our neighborhoods, towns, places of work and institutions of education to ensure that a moral vacuum is never created. Either way, after the election state and local leaders have an obligation to reaffirm the values of racial equity and social change and kick off the next four years on a better note than the last four.
In 2016, we didn’t know what to expect. We didn’t offer guidance or direction or any reassuring words to affirm an anti-racist culture of continuous progress. Our inaction led us to watch circumstances unfold before us while we sheepishly gathered our sensibilities and waited for the other shoe to drop.
We can’t do that this time. This time, we will be held accountable for our inaction.
Mercy Quaye is a social change communications consultant and the founder and principal of The Narrative Project public relations firm. She’s a New Haven native and alumna of Quinnipiac University. Got a story idea? Contact Mercy at @Mercy_WriteNow and SubtextWithMercy@gmail.com.