Sunday, August 16, 2015

Opinion: City Marginalizes People Of Color

Opinion submitted by Brenda Wilson, resident, and founder of the Ryan Woods Autism Foundation
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There are no African American businesses in the City of Middletown. Scatz Restaurant and Jazz Lounge was closed because the president of this city does not want to encourage people of color to migrate into this city for fear they will come from New Haven, Waterbury, Bridgeport. Scatz was the only place people of color could enjoy "their" music, food and drink. He did the same thing for the restaurant in the middle of Middletown. You saw what happened to Ryan Woods Autism Foundation. The Jamaican Restaurant is gone. The minister who had a barber shop that burned down was put in an unpopulated area. The president of this City is not even a lawyer; however, he is very strategic and the ministerial alliance is too afraid to move an inch for fear of a few dollars they will lose. Where I come from (Texas) this type of thing would never exist. We have a wimp of a City Council and School Board. The few people who have not been fired (including cops) at Town Hall are afraid of being FIRED and are walking around with invisible duck tape over their mouths so they can secure their pensions! Yeah, let the women take the lead in power positions. Too bad I'm not a billionaire. I could do some real damage control!" -Brenda Wilson, Middletown, CT

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Since when does Middletown have a president?

Middletown Eye (Ed McKeon) said...

What's the story behind Scatz closing?

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the reason those business's closed were because they were actually not viable business's in the first place. The "president" of Middletown whatever that is has no bearing on whether a business succeeds or fails. Scatz was in a horrible location. Maybe there is no demand for Jamaican food in middletown, the owners should do some market research before opening to actually determine if what they want to provide actually has some sort of demand. Middletown has spoken and apparently it only wants Italian food and self serve frozen yogurt.

concerned middletowner said...

it may be obvious to the writer but I for one did not "see what happened to Ryan Woods Autism Foundation " I searched for news online and found nothing. Brenda Wilson please write up the facts for us. Also restaurants come and go all the time, I don't follow the leap the writer is making. Isn't there a Jamaican restaurant on E. Main? I also just learned from Google that a Dominican restaurant Macori opened earlier this year. Just a couple examples, I'm not trying to argue minutia but the letter is not very clear on facts. Who / what is the ministerial alliance. What actions are they afraid to take? Who has been fired? There's no institutionalized racism in the state of Texas?!? Huh? I appreciate people voicing their convictions but I seriously would like to know facts

cybermom said...

Sterling real estate is a long established business in Middletown. There are 2 other businesses on Main st. Our treasure is a man of color. Yes, there could be more
and some day I hope there will be. You should get your facts straight.
Cybermom