Racism is too much with us.
Reminders that systemic racism can infiltrate Western New York institutions, businesses, governments and social structures – as well as the public discourse – seem to come weekly.
A year has passed since the May 14 massacre at Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue, an event in which the pure evil of racism was laid bare, as well as decades of discriminatory practices that had come before the tragedy.
Even as the community speaks of healing and rebirth, claims of embedded racist practices continue to make front page news, including troubling accusations against prominent local real estate company Clover Group.
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A whistleblower lawsuit accuses the company of using a bizarre code to ensure majority white locations, as follows: “Clover Entities’ executives referred to the unwritten site selection criteria concerning the percentage of Black people living within both a three-mile radius and a five-mile radius of a prospective development site as the ‘Canadian Factor,’ and regularly rejected development of prospective sites when the reported Black population percentages were at or near 20 percent.”
Whether or not the accusations – which Clover strongly denies – are true, what they describe is deeply disturbing. Such illegal practices would perpetuate racism and racial segregation by creating living situations that are as cloistered as possible, shielded from America’s undeniable diversity.
In smaller ways, and on a daily basis, people and institutions try to pretend that racism doesn’t exist. But the indisputable fact of racism is part of the discussion everybody needs to have. There should be no more shielding.
Over the past year, many painful reminders have demonstrated how much work still needs to be done in Buffalo. It is important to acknowledge them.
Persistent housing discrimination
In March, local civil rights organization Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) received more than 415 reports of housing discrimination in 2022 – the most in nearly 40 years and the second-highest level in the group’s 60-year history. There were 56 reports of racial discrimination. It must be kept in mind that these reports are the tip of the iceberg; 80% of people who believe they’ve suffered from discrimination do nothing about it.
Complaints at Roswell
The CEO of Clover Group, Michael Joseph, just stepped down from his board chairmanship at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. As it happens, Roswell has also been accused of racial discrimination, as well as discrimination based on gender and disability, in as many as 15 lawsuits filed by former employees. Six lawsuits are still active.
A report on the cancer center’s policies regarding diversity and inclusion, as well as a review of past discrimination complaints, was commissioned, but Roswell has not publicly released the report. It should. The discussion about racial discrimination at Roswell should be held in full public transparency.
Trouble at the Buffalo Police Department
Depositions taken in 2022 during a federal lawsuit from activist group Black Love Resists in the Rust included the testimony of a retired Buffalo police officer that racist epithets of every type were commonly used during his time on the BPD’s now-inactive Strike Force unit. The lawsuit includes claims of demanding and dehumanizing behavior at BPD traffic checkpoints in predominately Black neighborhoods in East Buffalo.
In a separate chain of events, Capt. Amber Beyer, who led the department’s Behavioral Health team, was suspended without pay in the wake of a lawsuit accusing her of making racist remarks last May in front of two Black police officers and a Black mental health clinician. Beyer has since returned to the force, though not to Behavioral Health.
Having the discussion
When asked about the depositions reporting racial epithets from the Police Department, Mayor Byron Brown’s words were, “I want to be very very clear: we have zero tolerance.” These are the words that should be spoken, and this is the policy that must be enforced. But those words and a written set of guidelines are only the beginning.
Many employees now are required to watch video training segments about discrimination and harassment. Those, too, are just the beginning. Even a defined Diversity, Equity and Inclusion mission, though important, can only do so much – especially if such policies are tolerated more than they are understood.
The discussion is uncomfortable, and it should be. A recent op-ed by a Williamsville pastor, Bill Hennessey, reported that when he put the words “Unite Against White Supremacy” on the sign outside his church after May 14, 2022, there were no objections. But then, when he put those words back up a year later, some people in his community found them “offensive and inappropriate.”
It is understandable not to want reminders of the horror people are capable of when their minds have been warped by racism. It is also obvious that such reminders are needed. Pretending they’re not or, worse, calling them “woke,” enables inequity.
Racism is too much with us. Admitting that is the first step.
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