More Peaceful Protests in Bedford,Yorktown
By Dan Murphy
On Sunday June 7, more than 1500 Westchester residents gathered in Bedford to honor the memory of George Floyd and to join together in a rally for Black Lives, organized by Sorvina Carr.
Bedford Town Board members Ellen Calves summed up the day when she wrote, “The Rally for Black Lives in Bedford Village today was a powerful event. The attendees were respectful and safe. My family and I were able to attend without coming in close contact with anyone, and everyone was wearing masks. What may have been 1500 or more people came and went in an orderly fashion and the port-a-potty didn’t even look overburdened. Thankfully, those who spread the rumors of “outsiders” coming in and causing chaos did not continue their fear mongering campaign.”
As I looked around at the crowds and the signs before the speakers began, most of the faces I saw were of young white women, some in high school or college, like my 18 year old daughter, who wanted to go to a rally but was a afraid of what she was seeing on TV.
After a friend told me about the Bedford event, my daughter and I went together, and it was an experience that we will never forget. It reminded me of some of the rallies and concerts like Clearwater, from the 1970’s that my dad used to take me to.
My dad was an NYPD officer in the 1970’s and 80’s. He was a progressive, Serpico-like cop at a time when it wasn’t very popular to be one. My dad was honest and refused to take the bribes from drug money that were flowing through the NYPD at the time.
One of the speakers at the Bedford rally was Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins. Jenkins appeared on my WVOX radio show years ago, and we spoke about the fact that both of our fathers were NYPD cops, and served around the same time. I felt that we shared that bond, but after hearing what Jenkins told the crowd in Bedford, I realized and agreed with many of the signs that read, I understand that I can never understand. However, I stand.
Jenkins spoke about how during one of the turbulent times in New York City in the 1970’s he was sent out by his father to get his younger brother.
He brought a stick with him for protection, but ended up getting a beating from a NYPD officer, even when Jenkins told the officer, “My dad is a cop.”
Usually, when you say those words to a police officer, my dad is a cop, they should result in protection and even special treatment. I have used that phrase several times in my life. But for Jenkins it got him nowhere, and when he came home and told his father, Jenkins told the crowd that his dad was heartbroken to see the bruises handed out by a fellow NYPD officer.
“There are good police officers, and we need to stand up with them to get rid of the bad police officers. When you have 18 complaints made against you, somebody is not doing their job. Be vigilant and do not let this moment pass us by,” said Jenkins.
Another speech from County Legislator Christopher Johnson at the rally made me think. Johnson spoke honestly, as did all the speakers, to a crowd which was 95% white, who at times were told uncomfortable truths. Johnson said that the enthusiasm at this event will shortly fade away. “Hold onto one issue that will help me, help a black woman and black child. And keep working on it. “
Johnson and many other speakers called for a repeal of the 50a law in New York State, which shields law enforcement officers’ records of past excessive force complaints from evidence in a current complaint. This makes it difficult to show if an officer has a history of discrimination and racially motivated violence.
In the past, the 50a law had made me uncomfortable. I was not in the business of protecting bad cops and I knew that my father would not have supported such a law. But I kept quiet and didn’t write about it enough. That will change
And that is another takeaway from the Bedford rally. That the apathy that we hear about so much from our younger generations was nowhere to be seen. It struck me how this next generation of Americans will not stand by and allow the racism that we have seen with three incidents in the last month, resulting in the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd,
Arbery was killed for jogging in the wrong neighborhood. Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis Police Officer. But even here at home, a black man had the police called upon him for bird watching in Central Park, for the “crime” of asking her to put a leash on her dog.
Another speaker at the rally, White Plains Council President Nadine Robinson-Hunt, reminded the crowd that Westchester has had its own George Floyd. His name was Kenneth Chamberlin, a retired corrections officer and Marine, who was killed in his home by White Plains police in 2012
I appreciated several signs which read How Many Aren’t Filmed? There was no video for Chamberlin’s death, as there was no video for DJ Henry, a young black man killed by a Westchester police officer in 2010 for no reason.
Our host for the rally, Sorvina Carr said, “A majority of white people have been silent. We need you to speak out. You have a sense of privilege growing up in Westchester. You are never too old to change.”
The appreciation to Carr was overflowing. “Thank you for organizing this. Who would have thought a sea of white residents in Bedford would be chanting “Black Lives Matter?” You did. And you made it happen. Naysayers had nothing to fear or object to. Maybe when they hear that rally attendees were respectful, listened to you and your guests, acknowledged implicit bias, acknowledged systemic racism, and acknowledged white privilege, maybe it might make them pause and think,” said one attendee.
Another said, “Thank you for organizing. It opened the important conversation with my children.”And there were many young children, with their parents, like my dad and I in the 1970’s –and there were fathers with their 18 years old daughters, including my daughter, and this reporter. Thank you Sorvina Carr for organizing this rally, and in helping us all understand a little more.
