Hundreds show up for Whitewater event
By Tom Ganser
Correspondent
More than 300 people of all ages and races participated in a peaceful “March for Racial Unity” June 7 in the City of Whitewater. The march organized by Whitewater Unites Lives began at 10 a.m. and commenced at Cravath Lakefront Park.
Most of the participants adhered to suggestions of wearing a mask and to maintain social distancing because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marjorie Stoneman, Chairperson for WUL, said the march’s purpose is to raise awareness of racial inequalities in light of the George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
“WUL is a locally-focused civil and human rights group that works to connect the people in our community and to create opportunities for all people to learn and support each other in our common humanity,” she said.
“Today we march in solidarity and in memory of George Floyd and all of those who experience, and have experienced, racial inequality every day.”
Floyd, a black man, died after white officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck. The recorded video surfaced on social media and showed Floyd pleading: “I can’t breathe!”
At the Whitewater Cultural Arts Center, where marchers stopped, Lincoln Elementary School music teacher Christine Hayes played the guitar and sang several songs, including “We Shall Overcome.”
Whitewater City Manager Cameron Clapper addressed the gathering, stating people witnessed inhumanity.
“I think this just demonstrates how much we share the same feelings and emotions about the things we’ve witnessed over the past several weeks in this country: the lack of tolerance, the lack of love, the lack of patience with one another and the absolute disregard for human life,” he said.
Read the rest of the story in the June 11 Whitewater Register.
