Opinion: City's Loss is Due to Racism and Biases

 Submitted by David Roane
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Middletown does not tolerate any signs of hate, intimidation, harassment or attempts at the same “WRONG”.  Let me clarify my statement “wrong”, even though I shouldn’t have to!  But there are those in the community that will take my statement of truth, and say he is saying that all white people are racist.  NO!  I know a number of whites and there are those I don’t know. That are not racist. This I do know.  I knew that what happened to Dr. Conner was a “modern Day Lynching of a Black Man”. I also know that those, whites, within the community who do not tolerate this kind of behavior are in the minority of whites in Middletown.

Where were the “many strong leaders and partners working through collaboration to keep Middletown School System, as well as, making Middletown a better place, when racism, biases, allegations of “harassment, intimidation and retaliation made by the school union representatives, and now hateful and threats to him and his family?

Dr. Conner described the letter as a "hate packet.” The Connecticut Education Groups call it an “Evil Act”  I have said from day one that this was nothing more than a “modern Day Lynching of a Black Man” and that the racists and biases people living within the Middletown community, are showing their true selves once again.

If Middletown does not tolerate any signs of hatred, intimidation, harassment or attempts at the same; why would our city officials be brazen enough to say the letter "contained language and references that were interpreted as threatening and hateful?  Our city officials in the past have said, as bold as brass, that “The only Problem between the City Police/Department and the Black Community is a communication problem?

Why would a city director say it has nothing to do with race and/or because he is a Black Man?  This same city director is the President of the local branch of the NAACP and, as the leader of that organization, proclaims the same lie.

The article said, “We aren't as ignorant to believe racism and biases don't live in our community”, at the first sign we will work to address. If that is true, why did we have to lose our first black Superintend of Schools, whom from day one was bringing nothing but high praises, acclamation, on a state and national level as to change to our city school system for the betterment of all no matter what the pigmentation of one’s skin.

Lastly if the recipient of such a letter was a white superintendent, and the threats were from a black person, he or she would be underneath the jail by now. We wouldn’t be reading and/or hearing "we are conducting a full investigation of the matter."

We just lost one of the best things that ever happened in Middletown, for the betterment of all. Lost as a result of racism and biases, let's keep it real.