The Press in Buffalo | “Racism is nothing new here”

(Buffalo) Never had horror struck so suddenly and brutally. But racism in Buffalo is not a new thing.

Simon Olivier Lorange
The Press

In the aftermath of the massacre that left 10 dead in this New York city, the Masten Park community is immersed in a mixture of disbelief, sadness and anger.

On Saturday afternoon, an 18-year-old white supremacist from a rural area on the outskirts of Buffalo traveled more than 350 km before stopping at a popular grocery store and opening fire. Authorities are treating the attack as a hate crime, committed in a predominantly African-American area.

All day Sunday, a rally took place near the Tops Friendly Markets grocery store, the scene of the killings. People spoke, others simply came to carry flowers, cards or lanterns for those who lost their lives.

Residents of the sector thus had the opportunity to hang out, chat, but also to cry and express their anger.

Jillian Hanesworth was among them. This community organizer, who is also the official poet of the city, firmly refuses to describe the events of Saturday as an isolated act. The shooting may be unprecedented, “racism is nothing new here,” she insists.

She recalls that in 2020, Erie County, which includes the city of Buffalo, identified racism as a public health crisis that impacts the health and education of the African-American population, from as well as on their economic status and their ability to find housing.

Buffalo, on the other hand, found itself the sixth most segregated city in the country after the 2010 and 2020 censuses.

Blacks in Buffalo have thus been ghettoized in the eastern sector of the city, where living conditions are the worst – down to the quality of the water.

“We are tired of surviving,” said M.^me Hanesworth in interview. We’re getting a lot of attention because of this terrorist act, because that’s what it is, but racism is nothing new. »

Overrepresented in the Masten Park district, African-Americans are thus “exposed” to crimes like that of Saturday, she believes. “It’s not normal that someone can easily find on Google the only grocery store located in a black area of ​​the city. »

Why ?

Questions, the residents of Masten Park have. A lot.

One of them, very simple, but heavy with meaning: “Why are we so hated? »

Under a blazing sun, a few meters from the Tops parking lot, Sharon Doyle brandishes her pink sign which reads “Black lives matter”. In the middle of the conversation, she pauses, taken by the emotion that inhabits her. “I don’t understand,” she blurts out.

The killer filmed the massacre and posted the video on the Twitch network, which has since taken it down. The few images that have nevertheless circulated show the shooter shooting people outside and inside the grocery store in cold blood.

The shock is obviously huge within this tightly knit community. All people interviewed by The Press spoke of a neighborhood where everyone knows each other by first name and grew up on the same few blocks.

The identity of the victims began to be revealed on Sunday. Mothers and fathers, old people, defenseless. “A father had gone to buy a cake for the birthday of his son, who turned 3 today, says Latrice White. Herself a mother of five children, she thinks with horror that they could have been among the victims.

“I worked there for a year and a half,” says Auriel Austin. The people who died, I saw them every day. I am devastated. I saw them get mad at physical distancing during the pandemic, at the end of plastic bag distribution, and I tried to make them smile anyway. Today they are gone. »

His voice breaks. “My mother lives just opposite, my son goes there constantly,” she says.

A peaceful march had been organized in the morning in the streets of the district. A few hundred people, of all origins, chanted the slogan “Black lives matter” and “no justice, no peace”. Some demonstrators had brought roses, in tribute to the lives lost.

The march stopped at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Laurel Street, very close to the grocery store, whose parking lot is still surrounded by security tapes and protected by a strong police presence.

“They chose the wrong city, the wrong community! said Pastor Dewitt Lee III to the gathered crowd. “People here have faith, they will not let themselves be defeated,” he explained a few moments later in an interview. Hatred will not win. »

After a few speeches, the group dispersed. Organizations distributed bottles of water, hot dogs and fruit to those who wanted to stay in the area to grieve together. No overflow occurred.

Poverty and violence

The neighborhood is no stranger to violence. The circulation of firearms is a scourge there, explains Lester, speaker from the group SNUG – Should Not Use Guns, or “we should not use a rifle”, in French.

The community organization supervises young people aged 14 to 25 caught in the cycle of crime. The group he represents, and several others, wanted to be present at the spontaneous rally on Sunday. Lester does not fear a resurgence of violence following this tragedy, but nevertheless believes that, more than ever, the dialogue will have to be fluid with the young people of the area.

“It comes back a lot to politics,” he adds.

The relationship between the residents of the neighborhood and its elected officials is indeed tense. The threat of gentrification is real, epitomized by the condos sprouting up rapidly just a few blocks from the Tops. The financial resources of social programs are melting, denounces Taniqua Simmons, an activist who was a candidate in the last municipal election.

“They want us to go away,” she lamented during a long speech. I was never scared on the East Side. Today I’m scared. Don’t let this event become a political platform. »

“Byron Brown is not my mayor! exclaimed another woman, referring to the man who has run Buffalo since 2005. Even if the latter is himself African-American, we have the feeling of not being heard at city hall. And there are fears that Saturday’s massacre will only make headlines for a few days and then fade into oblivion.

Just like Mr Brown, Letitia James, Attorney General of New York State, went to the scene of the crime to pay their respects to the victims. She was not welcome either, says Sharon Doyle.

M^me Doyle wonders how the gunman was able to acquire an entire arsenal and publish a hateful manifesto without raising a “red flag” with the authorities. Elected officials will have to provide explanations, she believes. “We can’t get past that. It hurts too much. »

Latrice White was shocked to see the suspect leave the establishment in handcuffs, escorted by police. “Would a black man have been treated so politely?” she wonders.

Many unanswered questions remain. The mourning that is beginning will be long, we are assured. The small community of Masten Park, however, refuses to give up. “Here, we don’t run away from our problem”, sums up Pastor Dewitt Lee III.