South central Pa. residents discuss racism, Black Lives Matter protests in small towns
Mariana Veloso
Like all parents, Ystein Mitchell worries for the safety of his child.
But as a Black man, he also has to worry whether his child will face racism for being biracial.
"It’s sad that I have to tell my kid about racism and prejudiced people," Mitchell, 27, said.
Mitchell, an entrepreneur and brand owner, has a 5-year-old son and after a recent interaction with a neighbor that his son witnessed, he had to tell him about racism.
"I had to explain to him that there's some people that may not like him, me or him, just solely because of our skin color, or of our racial background or our religion. ... So, I explained to him ... not everybody's gonna like you for who you are, some people are not gonna like the way you look but that doesn't matter.
"It doesn't change who you are, those people are the problem, not you."
Mitchell described the experience as "disheartening."
"I'm more concerned about when he goes back to school, how he's going to be towards children that are Caucasian because I don't want him thinking, which is what I told him, ... that all white people are bad, just certain types of people that choose to live a racist and prejudiced life," the McSherrystown resident said.
Mitchell said this is especially important being that his son's mother and her family are white.
As Black Lives Matter protests have swept the nation in the recent months, many claim that racist issues don't exist in small rural communities like Hanover and Gettysburg.
In response, some in these communities have stood up to unmask what life for a person of color in this area is really like.
Latrecia Thomas, of Harrisburg, has Black sons, and she said that the Black Lives Matter movement occurring today will hopefully pave the way for her children.
"Honestly, I hope that they don't have to scream out Black Lives Matter when they get older," the 29-year-old said. "That me saying it now ... and us working on it now, that this whole racial adversity is, for the most part, gone by the time our children get older, so that they can live free and feel free."
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Black Lives Matter Protests: 'I want to be treated like a human'
To Thomas, Black Lives Matter has a very simple meaning.
"The gist ... is: 'Hi, we're here. I'm a person. I want to be treated like a human, I respect you, you respect me,'" Thomas said.
The movement for her means community and a platform for Black people to share their grievances.
"It makes it all inclusive for all of us Black people to say your life does matter ... regardless of what your circumstances are and regardless of what you've done. You don't deserve to be treated worse than anyone else," Thomas said.
She attended recent protests in Harrisburg and Baltimore and said that she was able to have some very enlightening conversations with people because of it.
"That's probably my favorite way to protest, especially if someone's open to that conversation because we have to educate, we have to say like 'This is what I'm feeling and maybe you don't understand that because you haven't taken the time to sit down and see that I had this real emotion behind that,'" Thomas said.
She said she was happy to hear there were similar protests in Hanover, where she grew up.
More:Learn more about the Black Lives Matter movement on their website.
Annie Henry, 24, was one of the organizers of the Black Lives Matter protest in Hanover on Sunday, May 31. Now, in the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian Americans like herself have experienced discrimination from those blaming the Asian community for the virus. Henry said that personal experience of being fearful of others making racist remarks gave her a glimpse at what Black people deal with every day.
She believes that it's important for people to know what kind of action they can take regarding these national issues.
"It is a privilege to not have to be involved in politics, a privilege that I could have if I chose not to, but I think it's important that we use the privileges we do have to help those who might not. It shouldn't be left up to the people who are oppressed to fix the systems that oppress them," Henry said.
She admitted she did have some reservations about organizing the protest in Hanover.
"If you look at the demographics of (Hanover), statistically, it is a very white town, and when there's a homogeneous population, it's sometimes difficult to understand other experiences and other perspectives," Henry said.
"When we don't see diversity, when we don't have diverse thoughts, then the way that our town functions is going to be from the white perspective. And that's not that people are being wrong, but it's understanding that, and it's acknowledging that."
Despite these reservations, "I’m very happy we were able to do it peacefully and still impactfully."
Henry also helped with the protest on Saturday, June 6, which was organized by the same person who organized various recent protests in Gettysburg and Hanover, Matthew Anselmi.
Anselmi, of Gettysburg, is originally from Detroit where he said he lived in a poverty-stricken neighborhoods with many Black families.
He said that from what he's seen on Facebook, many people think that the protests are just about George Floyd's death and charging the officers involved, but it's about much more.
"Granted, this most recent slaying by the police is what has ignited worldwide protests, but it's just one instance that speaks to hundreds of years of injustices and I think it's really important to get this message out to rural America," the 31-year-old said.
He said that since organizing the protests, he and his family have received sexual assault and death threats mostly on Facebook. While he said they have not filed any reports with police, he has provided police with names of those that have threatened him and his family.
"Initially it was mind blowing, but it makes total sense. We’re making an entire ideology uncomfortable, it’s to be expected. There’s a lot of news on the national level that has painted all protesters as violent thugs so people have been conditioned to respond a certain way, we are here to break these cycles," he said through Facebook messenger.
Tori Gilbert, 24, of Gettysburg, said that when she saw the protest downtown she almost cried.
"Because I was like this is beautiful, I'm so glad to see so many people support it in this town because there is also a lot of racism in this town.” she said.
More:Gettysburg protest draws call for removal of Confederate statues, criticism of response
Is there racism in small towns like Hanover, Gettysburg?
Thomas attended South Western High School in the Hanover area, and although she said she got a great education, it was also the first place she experienced racism.
She described an instance where she and two of her friends, the only Black cheerleaders at the school, were walking to a Wendy's when a man with a Confederate flag on the back of his truck drove by and called them the "n" word.
"I was extremely taken aback because it was the first time I've ever had that happen to me. (My friend) had been there longer than me and so had our other friends. They started telling me how they were used to people doing it. I did go and report that to the principal and let them know, nothing was done about it," Thomas said.
She eventually saw the man again at a school dance.
"That's really where I learned to start reading more and start understanding how to say things to people more because it wasn't being paid attention to, no one cared that people were calling us names and making us not feel like we belonged," Thomas said.
Thomas not only experienced racism at school, but also in the community. She said that people would tell her mother, an immigrant from Ghana who spoke with an accent, to "go back to Africa," that her white friends' parents wouldn't let her and her siblings play with them at their homes, and that managers at work would often treat her differently than her white co-workers.
Thomas said that the racism she experienced in Hanover was why she left the area, "because I just didn't want to have to keep going through that as an adult."
Mitchell is also the child of an immigrant, but his family came to the United States from St. Lucia, an island in the Caribbean. He was born in Maryland, near the D.C., Maryland, Virginia triangle, where he said there's a lot of diversity and because of that he never experienced racism or prejudice. Then he moved to Pennsylvania.
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"I started to see people with Confederate flags, really proud of waving Confederate flags and disrespecting people or saying things (that are prejudiced). ... It seems like up here in Pennsylvania they're very proud of that, some people are very proud of being ignorant," Mitchell said.
He also attended South Western, where he said he experienced racism.
Anselmi, a white man who grew up in a very diverse community, was shocked at the racism that he witnessed once he moved to Hanover.
"When I first moved here, I remember being at the south Hanover Walmart and being in line and I was caught in between two older white men, and they were just so openly using the 'n' word and just talking (about Black people) like they are straight animals that need to be put down ... It completely blew my mind that these people, not knowing who I am, were so comfortable with their racism." Anselmi said.
Racism on social media
Though many people use platforms like Facebook to share information about the protests and the movements, much of those posts are followed by backlash.
While he was organizing the Hanover protest, Anselmi said rumors on social media were circulating about a bus of Black people going from Baltimore to Hanover.
He said the attention that rumor gained appalled him.
"Then I see their reaction to the idea of a few Black people being sent up here in buses, and they are terrified. It's like the reaction was like, we're being threatened with an invasion from a hostile foreign country,"; Anselmi said.
This was his reaction to this rumor, the events of which never actually occurred on the day of the protest:
- First: "They have their own mess down there and I'm sure that not too many people have the time to come up to Hanover."
- Second: "They just got national news recognition for a very peaceful protest that policemen partook in."
- Third: "We are protesting for Black lives so if there does end up being a couple of buses from people that live in Baltimore coming to support our cause then hallelujah. You know what I mean, like this is who we're fighting for."
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Thomas said she has witnessed individuals from Hanover who regularly post "racist memes, racist ideology, racist rhetoric."
While Thomas said it's OK for people not to agree about Black Lives Matter, it all comes down to respect.
"When it starts to becoming that you're making fun of Black Lives Matter, you compare Black people to the planet of the apes so calling us animals themselves and saying that we need to basically shut up, and that it's not true and that we just want attention. That is incorrect. ... It's just not right," Thomas said.
Gilbert has also seen posts online from people who don't believe races should mix or who don't think white privilege exists. At the end of the day, she said it's important for everyone to be knowledgeable about the Black Lives Matter movement.
"I feel like everyone needs to be aware that there is a lot of racism still going on," Gilbert said.
'If we continue this way with all this racial intensity, we will fail as America'
Though much unrest has led to the Black Lives Matter protests, the movement also hopes to make change for a better future.
"I hope the protests bring about vigilance and that people are on the lookout for things that aren't right and that they're willing to stand up and say, 'I see this. Even though it's uncomfortable, it's not right. And as an American, I'm going to say that's not welcome here,'" Thomas said.
Thomas and Anselmi both also said they would like to see legislation passed against racism both from the community and police.
Henry said she believes preventing racial injustice begins with education followed by action.
"I think the first part of it is understanding where you play a part in the problem and where you can help. ... Then also getting involved with donating to organizations that are doing things like helping elect more diverse government officials and helping to advocate for marginalized groups," she said.
"I also think that events like (the protests) get people to think about what's happening and to hold ourselves and the organizations and businesses and things we're a part of accountable."
Mitchell just hopes change comes in time for his son to live in a better world.
"I just hope in his lifetime that maybe there's some type of change and some type of shift in the culture and people realize that (racism and prejudice) it's so just not the right thing to do, it's very ignorant. And we need to really get a grip on social matters," Mitchell said.
"I hope that everybody can live and coexist equally, regardless of skin color, religion or creed."
Thomas said she wants these protests to help end the treatment of Blacks as "second class citizens."
"I think that if we continue this way with all this racial intensity, we will fail as America, we will fail because it takes all of us to run this country it takes all of us to do what needs to be done, and we owe it to our children, not just our Black children but white children as well," Thomas said.
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Amanda Beard-White, of Penn Township, is the executive director of the Hanover Diversity Alliance, which is currently working to form a Human Relations Commission in Hanover Borough, Penn Township, West Manheim, Conewago Township and McSherrystown Borough.
The commission would be able to work with police if someone made a discrimination complaint. It would then review those complaints and decide what action would be taken either on the local or the state level.
They would also work to remove old discriminatory laws from the books. Although these laws are no longer enforceable, Beard-White said they are demeaning to the communities of color in this area.
Mariana Veloso is the Quality of Life reporter for the USA Today Network - Pennsylvania. Veloso focuses primarily on the opioid epidemic in southcentral PA, along with coverage of everyday issues in the Hanover area. If you have a story idea, you can email her at msveloso@eveningsun.com. Follow her on Twitter @MariVeloso9 to stay up to date with her latest articles.