DAVE CORNISH
Ledyard boys’basketball coach defers talking about himself,but has talked to his players of color about how to carry themselves
“T he Purge” movie franchise chronicles a dystopian America in which a totalitarian government, voted into power after an economic crash, passes into law a national holiday.
The holiday is named “Purge Night”, a 12-hour period in which Americans may “purge” all their negativity via any crime, including murder, except against government officials.
Dave Cornish, Ledyard High School's boys' basketball coach, was unfamiliar with those movies until he saw one last summer.
“I'm thinking to myself, ‘this is The Purge,'” Cornish said about recent events in America.
“I can't believe I would live to see a day like this where there is absolutely almost no control whatsoever between the police, law, the civilians.”
Cornish deferred talking about his own experiences about being black in America, but has talked to his players of color about how to carry themselves.
“I've tried to teach my players, my minority players, some of the black kids . ... I've told them there is a difference, and this is what you have to do,” Cornish said. “You have to do certain things when you get around certain people, so they don't try to stereotype you as much. I mean, it's going to happen, but try to curb it as much as you can.”
Cornish is good friends with police officers and understands the difficulties they face. He feels that there's more than can be done within departments that would help relations between the police and the public they serve.
“My personal belief is people, like the police, just have a little more training towards situations with people of color because a lot of them fear people of color, and that's I think where it stems from,” he said. “That they're so quick to put handcuffs on and things of that nature and not talk about it because of the fear factor. I think if they have more training and are put in different situations during training (it would help) . ... build relationships with the civilians, with the public.”
“I don't like to see any of this stuff. It's sad that it's come to this point. And hopefully, like I said, there'll be some sort of change. Not a whole lot, I don't think, is going to happen, but I think if we can change a little bit and work towards that progress, I think it'll be in a better place.”