The families of Keasha Haythe and Dan Watson are organizing the Talbot Coalition Against Racism, “TCAR,” and we want to ask you, your family, and your organization to sign on, join this movement.
TCAR’s mission is its name, with stress on Coalition. It is not designed to supersede or supplant your independent voice, or your organization’s independent activities; indeed, we expect to foster coordination and mutual support. This is an inclusionary group welcoming every person and organization of good will that wishes to advance racial justice in Talbot County and achieve real, meaningful improvements in a peaceable manner. This is intergenerational because the problem is intergenerational; there are teens and young adults in both families who are hurt by racial injustice. We need to stop this cycle for them and their future kids if nothing else.
We start where we are in June 2020, simply standing witness for Mr. Floyd and the dignity of black lives. We intend action and are committed to concrete results including for our Hispanic community. This coalition is build on no hidden agenda, no code words. This is in no way an “anti-police” effort, and we applaud the Easton Police Department’s strong statement of solidarity below. We strive for a Talbot County whose culture simply expects racial justice—not as some astonishing exception, but as our norm. Talbot County can lead the way.
Any sound structure requires a solid foundation. These are three bedrock facts: eighty percent of Talbot County is white; Talbot County has a long history, and it is still marred by racism in many places; in matters of race, fear and misunderstanding flow both ways, so there is far too little dialogue across the color line. On this bedrock we need to build a solid foundation of empathy. Absent that, we risk again making progress on paper without touching the hearts of men and women where real change is needed.
This is a non-partisan Coalition. If you support racial justice and are Independent, join TCAR. If you support racial justice and are Republican, join TCAR–you are welcome and an important lifeline to a healthy future for Talbot County. Democrats, please respond too, of course. If you and your family are for racial justice and are from Mars, join TCAR. The tent is very big, and working across all these lines can only make Talbot a better community.
If you and your family, without sacrificing any independent voice, would like to join in a Coalition working to advance these goals, please reply to [email protected]. If your business or organization believes in these goals and sees the value of working in unity, without sacrificing your independent voice and agency, please do so too.
But please skip it if lip service is what you have in mind; we don’t intend to offer cover to those opposing racism in word only. TCAR means being held to account for real action and engagement against racism in Talbot County.
Dan Watson and Keasha Haythe
Talbot County
[email protected]
Dan Watson and Keasha Haythe
Talbot County
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