Suffield parents hold rally over recent racist incidents in schools
May 21—SUFFIELD — At least 60 residents, parents, and students attended a rally Friday night in response to recent alleged incidents of racism towards students from both staff and students.
The rally, organized by the Suffield Race Relations Coalition, was centered around the group's demand to meet with Superintendent Timothy Van Tasel to discuss their concerns and make recommendations to school staff on how to prevent racism in Suffield schools.
Members of the coalition say at least five racially charged incidents have occurred in the town's schools in just three months, including students creating a poll of which Black students to lynch, and a teacher using racial and gender stereotypes during a class.
Chase Irving, a senior at Suffield High School, said the school has done a poor job of handling these incidents throughout her school career, with few ever being resolved.
"The times things were done, they asked me, as a 12-year-old, what I wanted to do, which I think was not the right thing to do," Irving said, adding that the administration tends not to take students' concerns seriously.
Haley Wilson, also a senior, said teachers and the superintendent have accused her of lying when bringing up incidents of racism she experienced.
"You shouldn't argue with a child about that," Haley said.
Michelle Wilson, Haley's mother and a resident for over 15 years, said she knows her children have experienced trauma over racist incidents in the school system, but nothing has been done to solve it.
"They sweep everything under the rug, they make you feel like the crazy one," Michelle Wilson said.
Sonia Hill, one of the organizers of the rally and a 2004 graduate of Suffield High, said the scars of what she went through don't show.
"I thank God I don't look like what I've been through in Suffield," Hill said.
Hill said children in Suffield schools today still face the racism she faced growing up in town.
"Growing up Black in Suffield ... has turned into some sort of sick and twisted right of passage," Hill said.
Dexter Burke, 2nd Vice President of the Greater Hartford NAACP, said he lives six miles from Suffield and makes sure to stay out of it due to the racism in town.
"The school superintendent has to go, if all this nonsense is happening under his watch, he has to go," Burke said.
Kristina Hallett, co-founder of Anti-Bias, Anti-Racist Suffield, said white residents of Suffield, herself included, have not done enough to address the culture of racism in the town's schools.
"It's on you and me," Hallett said, "these students, these adults, they did not do this, this should not be their fight."
Hallett, a clinical psychologist with a specialization in complex trauma, said Black students face trauma from these incidents with "extraordinary" health impacts.
"We have been failing a vital part of our community," Hallett said.
Superintendent Timothy Van Tasel wrote in a statement Friday afternoon that the group coordinating the rally recently attended Board of Education meetings to discuss their concerns.
"As shared at a recent Board meeting in response to the concerns raised, the Suffield Board of Education and school administration are very committed to addressing and eliminating racism and discrimination within our schools," Van Tasel wrote.
Van Tasel added that the school system looks forward to partnering with parents and community members in the future.
Joseph covers East Hartford and South Windsor. He joined the JI in July 2021. Joseph graduated from the University of Connecticut and he is an avid guitarist and coffee enthusiast.
