With an eye on the general election in November, Black leaders across Connecticut say they are worried about the soul of America.
As the Trump administration refuses to condemn white supremacy and continues to stoke racial tensions in cities and suburbs, communities of color want voters to shake up the leadership in Washington.
If President Donald Trump is reelected, they fear that basic human rights long enjoyed by whites — economic opportunity, access to quality health care, education, clean air and water, safety in their communities, quality housing, and an equal shot at the American Dream — will continue to elude them.
Still, if Democratic challenger Joe Biden wins, will anything change?
The Courant interviewed 11 black lawmakers, leaders and community activists in Connecticut. With the election looming, they were optimistic but wary.
“Nothing surprises me anymore,” state Sen. Doug McCrory said. “[Trump’s] failure to address the issue of white supremacy at the debate was a clear signal to race baiters: ‘Stand back for a minute, but I might need you.’ That’s what I got out of it.”
Others worried that another four years of Trump would be catastrophic, that any progress made in the last couple of decades — or, arguably, since the beginning of Reconstruction — could be legally reversed through federal courts.
“We’re on a cliff, and we’re going to fall right off,” Hyacinth Yennie, a community activist in Hartford, said. “It’s going to take centuries to bring it back to a livable place, making people feel like this is our country and we deserve to be here.”
The comments below, culled from recent interviews, reflect longing and dread in the remaining weeks before the presidential election. For a country struggling to reconcile its troubled past with the gruesome realities of its present, they also offer a much-needed look in the mirror.
Elizabeth Horton Sheff, education activist, former Hartford City Council member
Over the last few years, we’ve seen a rise in racial tension, spurred on by comments like “stand back and stand by.” That comment struck me to the core; it is a call for racial violence. I’m concerned that our nation is going the way that I talked about throughout the Sheff lawsuit, which is 30 years old now. This nation is on the wrong track. We’re heading toward becoming the 21st century old South Africa. We’re on a precipice of moral and social justice that has become iconic in this upcoming election.
My greatest fear is that the electorate will be so bogged down in misinformation and panic over the pandemic that voter turnout will be affected, that people will be side-tracked, hoodwinked and bamboozled into not voting. We already know about voter suppression, particularly in communities of color, so it’s even more imperative that we make plans now to vote in November.
If we continue on a path of racial and economic division, if we continue to be a country that has gone from practicing implicit bias to explicit acts of racial aggression, then so much for E pluribus unum [“Out of many, one”]. We can just forget that. Our country will just continue on a downward slope to its own destruction.
Scot X. Esdaile, president, Connecticut State Conference of the NAACP
Going back to the beginning of this country, there’s always been a racial issue. Sometimes it hides. Many times it rears its ugly head. But as we’re seeing, the racial situation is not getting any better. You would think after all of these generations, it would get better, but it hasn’t. I don’t know if a president can fix this, to be perfectly honest. I’ve seen so many elections all the way back to slavery that have not fixed it. I’m at the point where I don’t know if a presidential election can actually fix the problem that we have.
What I hope is that we can at least make racism hide its ugly head, because it’s just so pervasive right now. I don’t have any hope in reference to the two individuals who were in the [presidential] debate, that either one will be able to change the racial dynamics in America. I don’t think either of the two individuals have the skill set to stop what’s going on in America right now.
You’re seeing militias, the KKK, skinheads … all this crazy stuff on social media and on the internet, and it’s getting really bad. More guns are being bought than ever right now. People are tense with the whole COVID-19 situation and the police accountability issues that are going on across America. We’re in a bad situation, and I just don’t know that this presidential election is going to change it.
Hyacinth Yennie, Hartford-based community activist
My hope is that when we have new leadership, we will try to build peace by uniting people together. We’re at a point where we are just so divided. This is a country of immigrants; we are all different races, creeds and colors. I’m not saying that racism wasn’t there years and years ago, but it’s only gotten worse and worse.
In terms of uniting people, we used to be an example for the rest of the world. We wanted to bring people together, to make people feel good about living together, but not anymore. The leadership we have right now is not helping us in any way. I’m hoping we can elect a leader who will bring us back to living together and loving together in peace.
I have fears about white supremacy, guns and people who feel like they can just shoot someone that doesn’t look like them with no consequences. It seems to [Trump] that it’s OK, that you can just go out there and shoot somebody and have no consequences. He’s playing that game. I’m not sure where we are going to go from here. We’re on a cliff, and we’re going to fall right off. It’s going to take centuries to bring it back to a livable place, making people feel like this is our country and we deserve to be here.
Jay Williams, president, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
I absolutely do not see this as a choice between political parties; I see it as a choice between freedom and tyranny. A sitting president of any party who refuses to categorically and unequivocally condemn and disavow white supremacy and white supremacist groups is treasonous. A sitting president who actively sows doubt and fear about the legitimacy of a U.S. election of any party is treasonous.
The national reckoning — the reawakening about the disparities, inequities, structural racism and detriments they have brought upon this country — I hope that continues. I hope more people began to understand and appreciate how divisive and destructive racism has been in this country. I hope the country moves forward and improves as a whole as these issues are acknowledged and addressed. It isn’t a zero-sum game: ensuring that there is greater racial opportunity, that there are more equitable opportunities and fewer disparities, that lifts up the entire country. You don’t have to pit one group of individuals who are of any racial or ethnic classification against the other.
I hope we catch a glimpse of our country in the mirror and say, you know what? We’ve gotten closer to racial equity than we ever imagined. Let’s step back from the brink and return to a path that has this country reconciling its past, but also striving to become that more perfect union. We have the creativity, the energy and the commitment and the ability to do that.
Rev. Henry Brown, Hartford-based community activist
I hope people will start talking more about racism in America instead of shrugging it off. A lot of people know about it but don’t want to have conversation about it. People in the current administration: if they start implementing change, it will filter down to the rest of America. We cannot sit here and say that racism doesn’t exist; it’s been in existence for centuries, and we need to do something about it.
You look at what’s happening with the police shootings, people protesting statues, talking about carrying open arms and attacking others for no reason at all: This stuff has been going on for centuries. My fear is that if the Trump administration is elected again, it won’t go away. If Biden is elected, I have a slight feeling that things will be different under his administration.
I wish people would start looking at all of us as a human race. We’re all the same. We all bleed red. Our skin color is different, but everybody is human. We just need to look at the human race and stop trying to categorize people as black, white or whatever.
Kamora Herrington, Hartford-based community activist and director, Kamora’s Cultural Corner
I hate to sound so pessimistic, but I am scared to death of either outcome. There’s certain language that I don’t like to use — and I’m feeling a lot of that, definitely this week — but I’m very concerned to come across as being middle of the road: I’m concerned about a Trump win. People who are working against what he is bringing are going to feel defeated. Right now, we’re traumatized.
If [Trump] wins, they’re going to be emboldened. I’m not in any way saying that any one group of people is endorsing violence, but violence is going to happen. If Biden wins, I think that there is going to be a large segment of the population that, at least through January, is going to feel as if they have to fight back against losing, whatever that looks like. The best case scenario is that whatever happens on Nov. 3, we wake up on Nov. 4 and realize that as a nation, we need to start engaging with each other in new ways.
Jonathan L. Wharton, Ph.D., associate professor of political science at Southern Connecticut State University
I think we’re already seeing an awakening of interest in knowing and following the issues that surround racial and social justice concern and even history, which has been long overdue. It’s not just acknowledgment but also finding a pathway to resolving and addressing long-simmering tensions and concerns that have been a part of America’s fabric for generations.
Too many Americans put entirely too much dependence upon the national races and specifically the presidential election. As hopeful as one might be that you might get a significant turnout this time around as opposed to previous elections — maybe we could break 70 percent — the truth is that a lot of these social and political concerns are really also at the state and local level. I think that there’s a misnomer that everything begins from the president down.
The president and the executive branch set the tone. There’s no doubt about that. But in truth, it’s really all levels and branches of government where you need to find ways of resolving a lot of racial and economic concerns.
Archbishop LeRoy Bailey Jr., The First Cathedral, Bloomfield
Justice in this country has to be changed, and it has to be equitable. All along, we have given economic parity to almost every ethnicity who has come to this country. But when it comes to African Americans: Oh, no. Why is that? What is it about us that’s so different, that’s so unique that you don’t want us to be equal to you economically? I don’t understand that.
The economic conditions ushered into Black communities by COVID-19: They could have negotiated this. People need help now. They need food. They need their rent taken care of. People are losing their jobs. Everybody needs to be taken care of in this situation. This is a unique and unusual time, and when you have unusual times, you cannot go about business as usual.
I am only hopeful if our people — and I’m talking about people in general, not just Black people — can see reconciliation within the leadership, with both Republicans and the Democrats, with Pelosi and McConnell. We need to see it at the top. They continue to fight. They’re at loggerheads. It’s the same thing in the state; they need to be able to work together, and they can if they want to.
State Sen. Doug McCrory (D-Hartford/Windsor), deputy Senate president pro tempore
My fear is that, if President Trump is re-elected, our country will continue to head towards more polarization between the haves and have nots, between ethnic groups, between individuals who want to bring the country together and those who want to continue to separate us. I feel that all of these anti-social behaviors will continue if the president continues to serve in office.
The failure to address the issue of white supremacy at the debate was a clear signal to race baiters: “Stand back for a minute, but I might need you.” That’s what I got out of it. My hope is that, as a country, we have an opportunity to confront our history, to find a way that we can have cordial but intentional conversations about how we can move forward in regards to race relations, economic opportunities and just being civil to one another. I’m looking forward to Election Day and making sure America comes out and exercises its right to vote.
Ed Ford Jr., Middletown Common Council member
Regardless of who wins this election, we have issues in this country and racial tensions that have persisted for decades. These issues did not originate overnight and won’t disappear without our consistent efforts to tackle them. I am focused on the work we have to do throughout our communities and in our local governments in order to produce a more equal society where we conduct ourselves with civility. It doesn’t matter who the next president of the United States is, these issues we must address still exist.
Shawn T. Wooden, state treasurer
Some of the damage that he [President Trump] has already done will become more permanent if we idly stand by. For example, the president’s actions and ongoing hateful rhetoric also continue to negatively impact our economy. Citigroup estimates the economy would see a $5 trillion boost over the next five years if the U.S. were to tackle key areas of discrimination against African Americans. Their recent study shows that since 2000, the U.S. GDP lost $16 trillion as a result of discriminatory practices in a range of areas, including in education and access to business loans. By comparison, U.S. GDP totaled $19.5 trillion in 2019. Addressing systemic racism is not one of this current White House’s key priorities, and that remains a huge problem.
I am an optimist. I hope this election marks our nation entering into a new chapter, one that includes a period of healing and reconciliation. In a year that is quite tragic on so many levels, one of the bright spots is that these fault lines — health care disparities, criminal justice and economics — have come to the forefront. We need to embrace the diversity and greatness within our country. We need to address health care and close the severe disparity gaps that we have seen with COVID-19 — those gaps are not limited to the coronavirus. My hope is that we have the national leadership and the will to marshal the American spirit and resources needed to tackle these challenges.
Michael Hamad can be reached at mhamad@courant.com.
