Demonstrators gathered on the Derby Green Tuesday night in memory of George Floyd, holding candles as members of the Valley NAACP read the names of Black people who have died at the hands of police.Maya Angelou Spruill, secretary of the Valley NAACP, organized and spoke at the vigil. In her remarks to a crowd of 50 people, she talked about making connections and friendships with police officers. In one conversation, she recalled how she told an officer that she does this work for her son. He replied that when she said that, he thought of his grandkids.
Spruill then said, “The goal is for you to think of my son like your grandkid, so that you can take care of my son like you would take care of your grandkid. I need you to be the police officer that my son can go to, not the one he’s running from.”
Derby Mayor Rich Dziekan followed her remarks, saying that he was a police officer for 30 years.
“We need to come together,” Dziekan said. “I don’t want you scared when you see a police officer. I don’t want your son to be scared. I get emotional about that because that’s been my life.”
Spruill gave Dziekan a hug. But Rosie Rabb, a resident of Derby, had a question for the mayor: Why isn’t there more diversity in Derby’s schools or police force?
“[When] we start seeing more diversity in our schools with the staff, then maybe the kids will feel more comfortable and not feel so against or so judged,” Rabb said. She said her daughter experienced racism and feels uncomfortable at Derby Middle School.
Rabb pulled Dziekan aside after the event to talk. She said he listened to her concerns and agreed that there needs to be a change. A year after the death of George Floyd, Rabb said she sees that Derby has a long way to go in rooting out systemic racism.
Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis one year ago yesterday. That officer, Derek Chauvin, has since been convicted.
Ali Oshinskie is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Ali covers the Naugatuck River Valley for Connecticut Public Radio. Email her at aoshinskie@ctpublic.org and follow her on Twitter at @ahleeoh.