Editor’s note: Members of the Northampton Youth Commission are writing a periodic column from the teenage perspective in the age of coronavirus. This column discusses racial injustice.
It’s too easy to think that Northampton is fundamentally different from the cities and towns which have been pasted on headlines of newspapers across the country since Memorial Day when George Floyd was killed. It’s too easy to think that our precious city could never be like those in which so many black Americans have suffered and died.
But that would be wrong.
We have too much in common with the grieving communities that have lost lives needlessly and suffered from entrenched racism and police brutality.
Over the past few weeks here, young and old alike have joined in our city’s streets as the country — the world — has mourned, protested and demanded change over the deaths of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless other black people who were murdered on account of the color of their skin.
Despite this moment of global solidarity, it is clear that many still stand in the way of making true change. Our own city was lampooned on a national comedy show, “Last Week Tonight” with John Oliver for a tone-deaf comment said by a uniformed officer at a protest.
We need to realize that our own streets are not immune to fundamental and systemic anti-black racism. As a member of this city’s Youth Commission, I believe that it is up to each of us, regardless of age, to evaluate our standing and privilege — and the opportunities for action that each provides us.
In the streets. On social media. In our locked down homes. Everywhere we look, people are asking for and demanding change
I saw change in the high-held banners and urgent faces of protesters who gathered from all around the Valley to march on the streets of Northampton. I heard change when listening online to hours of heartfelt public comment during a Northampton City Council meeting. Change is essential to stop the brutal assault on the lives of black people.
We need change to restore faith in our communities and our country. Change empowers individuals to stand up and share stories of a life that might be completely unknown to the way that others see the world, and how the world sees them.
How do we make change happen?
Change occurs through thoughtful and deliberate action across the board. Every one of us has a sacred duty to think, talk and act. But most importantly, a duty to listen. We must listen so we can better respond and react. Listen so as to better educate and understand. Listen to those whose voices and experiences have always deserved to be heard, and should continue to be heard even after the world no longer wishes to listen.
Right now, there is an opportunity. Every person, every group, everyone with a voice has an opportunity to step up and commit themselves to change the way they think and act in order to help end racism and police brutality.
As a young person, I can not yet vote for the officials who possess the power to affect change in this city. But I am not powerless. The Northampton Youth Commission is dedicated to representing young people in our city government. We hear people chanting in the streets, and we chant alongside. We support decreasing the funding and divesting from the Northampton Police Department. We believe that a community oversight board to regulate and review police conduct is essential.
But we also know that one root of the problem lies within our education system. This is a time to “challenge the stubbornly persistent tendency to teach Black History as a footnote to American history,” as Sachel Harris has said. This is a time to demand anti-bias training, not just for police officers, but for our teachers and school administrators as well.
This is a time to protect all of our peers and students, regardless of race. Defunding and demilitarizing our police force is futile unless the funding is appropriately redirected into community-based causes that foster hope, such as education reform.
Northampton is a majority-white city. Too long have we turned a blind eye or shook our heads in disbelief. I urge you to listen and educate, to first change your own mind and actions. Remember your responsibility to justice and equality as Americans and members of humanity.
Face head on the threat that racism has played, and will continue to play on our streets without immediate action and change.
Dahlia Brause Breslow is a 15-year-old student at Northampton High School and member of the Youth Commission.