By David Fortier
A small crowd gathered in person and others joined the event via livestreaming to share their strong opposition to recent white supremacist activity in Bristol, the most recent activity including a huge sign stating, “Keep CT White.”
“We are going to tell white supremacists that they are not welcome here,” said Melina Floyd-Torres, who organized the event. “There is no reason for white supremacy. There is no reason for people to feel that one type of people, one group of people deserve anything over anybody else.”
Her comments were directed as much to the white supremacists who showed up on Aug. 19 with flares and masks and carrying the sign as it was to the tepid response from city leaders, especially Mayor Jeff Caggiano, who has yet to make a statement condemning the latest appearance of white supremacists here in Bristol.
“It’s been over a week,” she said, since the incident. “It was Aug. 19, and now it’s the 27th. It needs to be more.”
Among the speakers at the event were three Democratic candidates for this year’s municipal elections this November–Scott Rosado who is running for mayor, Morris “Rippy” Patton who is running for city council in the 2nd District and Corey Nagle who is running for a seat on the Board of Education.
“Anyone who does not know,” said Patton, who was the first speaker, “tomorrow is 60 years since the March on Washington. Tomorrow will be 60 years since Martin Luther King Jr., as a 34-year-old, marched on Washington to talk about the same thing we are talking about today in 2023.”
Patton said that he believed King might never have imagined that his work would still be unfinished 60 years later.
“It comes with a bit of sadness that we still have to carry on that legacy and fight that fight but you know a lot of times when things like what’s happening when white supremacy rears its ugly head in a town like ours, people will say things like, ‘This isn’t who we are.’ and I challenge that directly because you can’t heal what you don’t confront.”
He said that this event reminded him of one 40 years ago that involved an encounter with white supremacy, right here in Bristol.
“I grew up in a church that’s right down the street from here, not less than a quarter mile away,” he said.
“I still remember when white supremacists came, they vandalized the bus we just bought, they wrote KKK all over it. They had the N-word all over it. I remember it like it was yesterday.”
He posed the question: “At what point does it end?”
“My true answer is that we have to get to a point where we as a people just stop accepting that racism is a norm in our country,” he said. “We have to stop letting racists feel comfortable.”
These people who showed up in masks and carryings signs don’t go into places like Hartford and New Haven, he said.
“They look for places that either give them passive acceptance or places that have given them an outright, ‘Come to us.’ So we as a city, in my personal opinion, have to take a hardline stance against racists coming to our town. And what we need is a leader who will flat out say, ‘You are no longer welcome here.'”
Scott Rosado, upper left, Corey Nagle, right, Melina Floyd-Torres, center, and Sy Lucier-Reynoso, bottom, address the crowd gathered at the Todd Street Park and Ride lot, as well as viewers catching the livestream of the event. | David Fortier
Rosado opened his comments by saying he thought that the city might have been heading in a better direction in regards to the fight against racism and improving diversity but that did not appear to be the reality.
“It’s unfortunate that we’re still her fighting the fight, trying to take a stand against racism. We are not afraid to say that nothing really has changed,” he said.
That was not always the case, he said. As a city council member, including in the days following the death of George Floyd and the peaceful marches that followed in Bristol, several led by Floyd-Torres, he saw some progress.
The city embraced diversity and created many opportunities for people of all backgrounds to serve and have a voice in government through a variety of committees, such as the Diversity Council and the Opioid Task Force, he said.
In the years of the Zoppo-Sassu administration, the number of people of color represented on city commissions increased from three to over 40.
“I want you to understand that these commissions are important because they give our community a sense of belonging,” he said, adding that the people on these committees act and know they can serve on these communities to make changes.
“It’s scary how many people of color have resigned or are not appointed to these boards and commissions,” he said, since the new administration took office.
He said that as a community we need to have difficult conversations, not that things will be fixed immediately.
“But we can make strides towards it, not strides to dismantle what we’ve built,” he said.
Nagle, a teacher who has worked in the Bristol school system and the parent of a student in Bristol schools, said that racism has no place in our community, especially in our schools.
“We need to make sure that true history is being taught and out students know what it is and what we need to do now,” he said, including how people stood together, during key moments in this story, such as the civil rights, both blacks and whites.
“We don’t always see our white selves there,” he said. “We need to recognize that there were white people that stood in solidarity with the black people. We need to do that now as well.
“We need to do that now as well, so our students, students not of color, know they have a place in this as well and have a role to play in supporting everybody and making sure we bring that equality and equity to everyone in our schools.”
Sy Lucier-Reynoso, a member of the audience, recounted numerous instances of aggressive behavior toward her and her spouse, resulting in a constant battle against fear and for safety.
“The climate has to change or else people will get hurt, regardless,” she said. “And seeing that recent demonstration of those people was terrifying. I don’t want to see anymore. I don’t think anybody else does. But it’s a shocking litmus test of the area.”
She posed the question: “Would all of us be willing to stand in front of someone who is a victim of racial violence in Bristol?”
“I’d hope that everyone one of us would try to rally around but this is a pot of hate and violence that is going to consistently boil and people will get hurt unless there is adamant anger against it,” she said.
Floyd-Torres, a Bristol native who now lives in Hartford runs her business out of Bristol and has family here.
As a result of her early activism, leading the Black Lives Matter marches in 2020, Floyd-Torres said she was the recipient of threats at work.
“Someone posted my address publicly,” she said.
These actions prompted the move to Hartford.
Aside from running her business here, Floyd-Torres volunteers at least one local charity.
“Leaving for a little bit and seeing what other places are like gave me a perspective I think Bristol needs,” she said.
Floyd-Torres said that there are no plans for any follow up to this event but that she will be monitoring the situation for opportunities.
Among those in attendance were Police Chief Brian Gould and Deputy Police Chief Mark Morello, as well as State Rep. Mary Fortier (D), who represents the district where both the rally was held and the white supremacist demonstration occurred.
For a link to livestream, click here.
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