{"id":52717,"date":"2020-07-15T18:51:25","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T00:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bayfield-residents-gather-for-anti-racism-demonstrations\/"},"modified":"2020-07-16T00:51:25","modified_gmt":"2020-07-16T00:51:25","slug":"bayfield-residents-gather-for-anti-racism-demonstrations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bayfield-residents-gather-for-anti-racism-demonstrations\/","title":{"rendered":"Bayfield residents gather for anti-racism demonstrations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Bayfield
Bayfield anti-racism advocates hold signs Monday outside Town Hall in Bayfield as part of a weekly demonstration. The events started in June after the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by police in Minnesota.<\/span>Shannon Mullane\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

For weeks, drivers passing Bayfield Town Hall have seen a gathering of about 10 people holding anti-racism signs at 5 p.m. each Monday. Many drivers passing by honk and wave; some turn their thumbs down or extend a middle finger.<\/p>\n

The fledgling movement, called the Los Pinos Anti-Racism Project, aims to raise awareness about racism and discrimination issues.<\/p>\n

Although the group began meeting in January, it increased its efforts after Minnesota police killed a Black man, George Floyd, in May, which prompted protests around the world. The Bayfield advocates do not want to divide their community, they said, rather they want to help make it a welcoming place for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of people of color that don\u2019t feel comfortable in our town, and we want to change that,\u201d said Jessey Ramirez, a white Bayfield resident motivated to take action to support family members who are people of color.<\/p>\n

Some advocates said that discomfort might be rooted in Bayfield\u2019s history, recognizing that it was once Native American land. Racial equity activists in Bayfield and Durango have mentioned the Confederate flag\u2019s controversial appearance at Bayfield\u2019s Fourth of July parade in past years and the Ku Klux Klan chapter that was active primarily during the 1920s.<\/p>\n

While the KKK meetings were in Bayfield, some activities, such as cross burnings, parades and rallies, were in Durango, according to a 2016 historical records presentation<\/a> by a Fort Lewis College student and local historians. The chapter also had a women\u2019s branch in Durango. The KKK primarily targeted Catholics in Durango and immigrants, primarily Mexican and Italian populations, in La Plata County.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy acknowledging and learning from that history, we can move forward and make this a more welcoming place,\u201d Ramirez said. \u201cIt gets a bad reputation in the area, and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s necessarily deserved with our current history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advocates say they have received mostly positive reactions from passersby, and there were no counter-protesters present at Monday\u2019s gathering. But in one tense moment, a woman drove past, turned her car around, then shouted at the activists, saying phrases like, \u201cY\u2019all are so ignorant it\u2019s shocking.\u201d The incident prompted one family with two young children to leave the gathering.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a child here. He was sobbing. It hurt him to the core,\u201d said Maria Limon, a Vallecito resident, in an interview minutes later. \u201cThat\u2019s what racism does.\u201d<\/p>\n

One Bayfield teen participated out of concern for Black and brown classmates at school; another wanted people to feel cared for in their communities. Other advocates focused on starting conversations, and one person wanted to fulfill her responsibilities as a Christian.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here because I understand what racism can do to people,\u201d said Limon, who identifies as Mexican. \u201cIt\u2019s not a cakewalk for brown folks, and the legacy of slavery has deep roots. I know in many ways I have benefited from the oppression of people of African heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhite supremacy is a huge problem, systemically, and it\u2019s up to white people to stand up and make sure we change that,\u201d said Emily Jensen, who lives near Bayfield and helps organize the weekly demonstrations. \u201cThere is a lot of anti-racism in Bayfield, but we\u2019re not unified. People don\u2019t know about it. So here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Los Pinos Anti-Racism Project has also met with local leadership, like Bayfield Mayor Ashleigh Tarkington.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was honored that they called to include me. I think now is the time. It\u2019s a good time to have these open conversations,\u201d said Tarkington, who made a mayoral anti-discrimination proclamation in June. \u201cI\u2019m very much in support of the momentum of the movements happening right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Tarkington, the group discussed ways to increase transparency around policing practices, statistics and policies. They are looking for ways to get involved, like a community group that works with the town government on anti-racism efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really love and support our Marshal\u2019s Office, and we are absolutely not coming after them with this message,\u201d Jensen said. \u201cBut we do want to make sure that everything\u2019s really transparent and look for some accountability within our government.\u201d<\/p>\n

smullane@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Residents call for increased accountability, transparency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[731,13,28,1850],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-52717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bayfield","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-racism"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52717"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=52717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}