Note: This column was written as a response to a guest column written by Ansonia Alderman Patrick Henri.
It is a shame that Mr. Henri, an elected official would chose to shamelessly exploit the murder of police officers by a mentally deranged person, to spew such ignorance and vitriol.
To use their pain and mourning as an excuse to create more division, an “us” against “them” mentality, that does nothing to heal or foster solutions is a disservice to our City. Is this what the citizens of Ansonia can expect from its governing body?
Mr. Henri has confirmed some of his constituent’s worse fears. Shame on him!
As I have read and listened to various responses to the tragic assassination of New York City Police Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, I am not only disappointed, I am very troubled. I am troubled that people who present themselves as leaders are using the tragic deaths of these two men for political posturing. I am troubled because this unspeakable tragedy did not unite humanity as it should have, but has become a platform to further divide.
To try to put forth a FALSE choice in having citizens chose sides between the Police and the Black community is disgusting and reprehensible!
His lack of critical thinking skills is showing. Reading his column reminded me of the poison you read in some of comment sections where those filled with ignorance and hate congregate.
I have heard a lot of rhetoric about where the blame should be placed; the blame rests with the individual that committed this senseless act. In playing the blame game we miss several opportunities to heal. In order to heal we all must acknowledge our roles in events that have brought our society to this point.
I wonder how the APD feels about being used in a cheap political stunt?
In my conversations with Chief Hale I certainly didn’t detect this belief. I hope the APD would distance themselves from Mr. Henri’s philosophy. The Black citizens of this city are not the enemy!
Citizens that want equal treatment under the law are not the enemy! Police Officers who do their job and don’t abuse the power entrusted in them are not the enemy!
I wonder what is Mayor Cassetti’s opinion as the leader of this City?
After speaking with him as a leader in the Community he shared with me he’s appalled that a member of his party, an Alderman, holds such disdain for some members of the community he serves, and who exploits his Police Department in an ill informed and despicable political stunt.
Where are our other elected representatives?
When will they speak up?
Anyone who refuses to accept the unquestionable disparities in our justice system is a major part of the problem and a major reason that many people feel they will never be heard.
Open and honest dialogue about race relations is what needs to happen, not rhetoric that demonizes anything or anyone that disagrees with the status quo.
For someone to say that anyone who denounces police brutality or racial injustice insights people to murder is out of touch with reality.
Anyone who thinks that community activist should only address “the real problems of poverty, lack of well-paying jobs, failing schools, broken families and absent fathers,” is out of touch with reality.
Oprah Winfrey was told she could not afford a high end item because of what she looks like.
Recently, in Ansonia, an 18-year-old (college student) African American male was assisting his Caucasian girlfriend and her family with looking for a person who robbed a friend’s store.
The police were called and when they arrived they automatically assumed that the African American male was the suspect. That’s the reality of people of color!
Mr. Henri does not deserve the position he holds. He has demonstrated that he is unable to be a part of the solution. He is a flame thrower and a divisive force.
His is not the type of leadership needed in Ansonia.
If you want to be a leader, know the facts, walk a mile in the other person’s shoes and try to understand the reasons people feel the way they do.
Dr. Martin Luther King said “a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”
It’s time for us to come together to mold consensus. The hatred, judgments, injustice and division must end.
Greg Johnson Sr.
President Ansonia NAACP
