Monday, June 8, 2020

Kelly Kirschner: Anti-Racism

This year marks the 10th anniversary since the local immigrant-integration, nonprofit UnidosNow was formed. I am proud to be one of the founding members, against the backdrop of local, state and national issues negatively impacting immigrant communities.

On a local level, from 2009 to 2012, a period during which I served as a Sarasota city commissioner and mayor, the bright light of disparate treatment of minorities by law enforcement focused on the city’s Police Department.

Similar to recorded killings of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, the only reason that this came to the public’s attention and outrage was due to the Herald-Tribune’s publication of a video recording of a SPD officer allowing an inebriated immigrant, Juan Perez, to climb out of a squad car and fall six feet onto his head, his hands handcuffed behind his back.

The officer then proceeded to kick the man and stand on him. It ultimately led to the firing of the officer, the resignation of the chief of police, the creation of a city police complaint committee and an independent police advisory panel. In spite of a history of other complaints of excessive use of force against the offending officer, he remained and advanced within the force prior to the Perez incident, which ultimately cost the City hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawsuit settlements and legal fees.

Perhaps most disturbing, three years after the incident, a panel of Sarasota residents that included a former and current city commissioner board voted unanimously to reinstate the fired officer, giving him three years of back pay, in spite of the African American chief of police advocating that they ratify the officer’s termination, due to his dangerous disregard of protocol in caring for a handcuffed individual.

I share this story because the frustration and the violence we are seeing in our country today is not just about the individuals who police us; it is really about us and a 400-year history — since African slaves were brought to these shores — of not demanding better, in spite of our insistent belief in American exceptionalism.

Nicole Hannah-Jones
We inherit, whether we like it or not, the legacy of our nation’s forefathers who wrote and signed a “Declaration of Independence” that declared “all men are created equal”, while many of the signers, including the principal author, Thomas Jefferson, owned thousands of African slaves, including their own children. This year’s Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Nikole Hannah-Jones, wrote in her New York Times essay last fall, “Our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them true.”

UnidosNow was formed to stand in solidarity with our black community and join the fight to make these ideals true, as we seek to integrate our vibrant immigrant community into the social, economic and civic weave of the American Dream. The fight is not a struggle that our black and LatinX neighbors must wage on their own. Indeed, the truth and reconciliation process must take place within our nation’s white community, for any progress to get us beyond where we are now.

As Dr. Ibram Kendi in his best-selling book, How to be an Anti-Racist, points
Ibram X. Kendi
out: It is not acceptable to simply say, “I am not a racist.” The question for all of us is rather, “How are we being and behaving in an actively anti-racist manner?”

Anyone who has watched the videos from Georgia and Minneapolis is horrified. Many are moved to action, as we witnessed when hundreds of local residents peacefully convened and marched throughout downtown Sarasota, calling for greater police accountability. While this is a start, white residents have the obligation to educate themselves on how to be better allies and active, committed anti-racists.

To better empower conversations and civic activism in that process for white residents and parents, here is a link to resources that will help you become a more engaged anti-racist. As Americans guided by the noble aspirations of our Founding Fathers, it is our obligation to help create a more just and equitable society where all people have a fair chance to be healthy, free and alive.

Kelly Kirschner 



Resources for white parents to raise anti-racist children:

Articles to read:

Videos to watch:

Podcasts to subscribe to:

Books to read:

Films and TV series to watch:
  • 13th (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix
  • American Son (Kenny Leon) — Netflix
  • Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 — Available to rent
  • Blindspotting (Carlos López Estrada) — Hulu with Cinemax or available to rent
  • Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu) — Available to rent
  • Dear White People (Justin Simien) — Netflix
  • Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler) — Available to rent
  • I Am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin doc) — Available to rent or on Kanopy
  • If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins) — Hulu
  • Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton) — Available to rent for free in June in the U.S.
  • King In The Wilderness  — HBO
  • See You Yesterday (Stefon Bristol) — Netflix
  • Selma (Ava DuVernay) — Available to rent
  • The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution — Available to rent
  • The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.) — Hulu with Cinemax
  • When They See Us (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix

Organizations to follow on social media:

More anti-racism resources to check out:





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