It is through the council that he has done some of his most effective work in the area of diversity, but he has also been involved with the issue his entire life, beginning as a youth and now as an adult, among his peers. 

As evidence of his goal to stay above politics, Patton said he shows up to meetings without any real political biases and opposes anything that doesn’t make sense, or he supports anything that does from the perspective of a regular person and homeowner that lives in town. 

That is except for one bias: toward diversity. 

As a minority, he said he is able to talk about issues from a different perspective. 

“Many people in the room are on the Democratic side of things, obviously it is more diverse there,” said Patton. “Those topics can be covered from a diverse perspective.”

“But on the Republican side of things, it’s a lot harder to do that,” he said.  

When the two groups at a bipartisan level get together, and they have to start making decisions without having both sides of the story, they can’t have those conversations if there aren’t voices in the room that represent the people, he said.   

Patton attended Bristol Central High School, and afterwards, Southern Connecticut State University. 

In January of 2001, he started working part-time at ESPN. 

He is there 20 years later. 

“I’m currently called a content producer,” said Patton, about overseeing the highlights for SportsCenter.” 

He is a homeowner and is raising his family here. 

While his involvement in diversity issues did not start with the invitation from the mayor, which came on the heels of a city-wide initiative, a Community Conversation on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in June 2020, an event spurred on by the Black Lives Matter movement and sponsored by the mayor and city council, it did spur him on. 

Hundreds showed up to the community conversation bringing with them lawn chairs, blankets and a desire to spark positive change in Bristol. 

“It’s weird because obviously that wasn’t necessarily a movement that started in 2020 with George Floyd,” said Patton about Black Lives Matter.  

He said that the movement dates back to Trayvon Martin, who was an unarmed 17-year-old killed by George Zimmerman in February 2012, sparking national controversy.  

The movement picked up around 2015, he said. 

 “And then really just kind of took hold in 2020, in terms of, national protests that involve more than just people of color,” said Patton.  

In its inception, he said, the movement was so important because for the first time in modern era, it reached beyond just the community where the issues happened. 

For instance, “It was an opportunity for people in Connecticut to show support for issues that were happening in Chicago, rather than just seeing the protest,” said Patton. “And the activism happening across the country and going ‘Oh, my goodness, this is amazing.’ ”  

It gave people who agreed with the movement the opportunity to say, “Hey, look I think this is something that I can be involved in,” he said.  

For him, the discussion already had been happening locally. He called them first steps for future conversations. 

Among those contributing to these first-step conversations was the local chapter of the NAACP, he said. 

“A few years back, my brother helped rejuvenate the Bristol chapter of the NAACP with Lexie Mangum,” said Patton. Mangum is the former president of the chapter. Eric Clemons is president now.  

“Having that conversation up and running, really helped build the infrastructure for a lot of the conversations that are currently happening,” said Patton.  

He has done what he can to help things along. He posts on Facebook and gets involved in discussions about educational issues. 

In a Facebook post a couple of months ago, he wrote that there needs to be more understanding: 

“I urge those from the LGBTQ community to find circles where they’re not represented, and to be a voice and to be an advocate.” 

“I urge those of lower incomes, to find circles where they’re not represented and represent themselves.” 

Another contribution of his revolved around charging students insurance on school-issued computers. 

“The topic at hand was, if we should charge these families $25 per computer for insurance in case any of the kids, have issues, or their computers go missing,” said Patton.  

He said he didn’t think that parents shouldn’t have to shell out $100 they don’t have or $75 they don’t have for insurance, on a computer that they had to accept. 

Those conversations are critical and require diverse voices for satisfactory solutions, he said. 

Of course, racism is part of the conversation, he said, as well as being an issue he is very close to, especially since he, as a black man, has faced it his entire life. 

“I went through elementary school, almost at all times being the only kid of color in my class,” said Patton. 

About his school days, Patton said at that time, the people running the schools didn’t have the awareness that is evident today. 

“At that age, and in that era in the 80s for kids of color in Connecticut, and more specifically, outside of the inner cities in Connecticut, there was a lot of naiveness,” said Patton.   

During that time, he thought all kids at school were getting that type of treatment, but now years later, he realized it was him.   

“I’m happy to say I didn’t grow up with a ton of violence due to my color,” said Patton. “It was really just more of social issues.” 

He recalled that one of the first girls he ever had a crush on in fourth grade, called him the “N” word, when he told her that he had a crush her.  

“I remember another girl that I was actually dating in eighth grade,” Patton said. “Her father made her break up with me due to my color.” 

He said kids are honest, and it was more of those type of things rather than living in a place where people were constantly driving by throwing things at you and driving by yelling things at you.   

“I spend most of my time with my family so I’m often and always around people of color, so at times kind of get to the perception of what you’re seeing, which is really what you surround your environment from.” 

He said that through his involvement he is trying to help the city become a more balanced one by being a voice from a group where there isn’t representation. 

“We need representation from a complete diverse slate, whether it’s income, whether it’s cultural background language and art,” he said. 

He credits Zoppo-Sassu for encouraging this. 

“I know I’m a good person, I was raised that way, my values are there, it’s genuine,” said Patton. “I feel like having that ability, it puts me in a place where I can serve that role, and try to be, and at least allow myself to be an example for any others.” 

“What we’re trying to do with the Diversity Council,” he said, “is to create an avenue for those to be able to flourish in a diverse landscape here in Bristol,” said Patton. 

The city’s diversity council meets the fourth Tuesday of each month in first floor meeting room in City Hall at 6:30 pm. 

Note: The FBI’s Hate Crimes Statistics, 2015 report tallied more than 5,850 hate crime incidents in 2015. Most of those — 56.9 percent — were racially motivated, with more than half of race-based attacks targeting African-Americans. 

Getting people to move here is a priority

By Anna Bedell

Marcus Patton would like people, who care about diversity, to move to Bristol and encourages them to think of Bristol not only as a place to live but as a place to raise children and to start a business. 

Admittedly, he said, he and his wife, Tracy, have considered living in other places, among them Covington and Farmington. Marcus and Tracy are raising their two children here.  

The truth of the matter is that, he said, diversity just isn’t in those places, not for someone with two biracial kids, and neither he nor his wife are interested in having them be an overwhelming minority within their school system. 

He said not only are people with families seeking diversity overall but specifically a diverse education for the children.  

“I think that if family of color were to look at the census and see that it’s only 5 percent, that would be concerning,” said Patton.   

At the same time, he said, the diversity council is addressing the issue. Patton is a member of the council, which is doing what it can to get out the good word. 

For instance, the council had a zoom call with NBC, Connecticut, recently, joining forces with NBC in order to help get the message out, he said. 

He said he hopes there are more opportunities to get the word out and show people that this is a city that cares about diversity. 

“Again, the rejuvenation of the NAACP has been huge so that parents can know that there is a fighting force for them in this town,” said Patton. 

He considers his brother, Morris “Rippy” Patton a role model. “Rippy” was named one of the top 100 men of color two years ago. “Rippy,” incidentally, chairs the Democratic Town Committee. Marcus is registered as a Republican. 

He said seeing his brother in the local newspaper and that he was a part of publications out there is really just to show those looking to move here that there are a lot of positives going on in Bristol for people of color. 

“The overwhelming support from all people in town and when I say all people, I don’t mean everyone but, you know, a diverse slate of people showing support to the Black Lives Matter movement showing support for the NAACP showing support for the city’s Diversity Council,” said Patton.  

In addition, Patton pointed to statistics that indicate the city’s diversity rate in the schools is nearing 50 percent. 

Parents can move here or people can move here knowing that at least the numbers in the school system are showing an overwhelming attention towards diversity, he said.  

“Those are the things the city has already done to help get the message out there to welcoming more people of color,” said Patton. 

Regarding work and business opportunities, Patton said, “We’re a city that really runs like a small town, it’s true.”   

 For example, he said, “In terms of restaurant businesses, you have J.R. Rusgrove and he’s got three restaurants.” 

As an aside, Patton said that a couple weeks ago, he walked into Cafe Real and had a discussion with the owner, Eduardo Garces.  

“Garces who’s Colombian, asked me, ‘Why do you think that we’re not seeing more of a rise in black-owned businesses here in Bristol?’” said Patton. 

“He’s like, ‘I think, you know it’s really strange for me because it feels like the time is perfect, and we’re just not seeing it.’”   

Patton said that both men talked about what those reasons could be, and that opportunity is prime, right now, for a lot of people of color to come in and start more black-owned businesses.