Joan Gotti: Urging the Mayor and Borough Council to Make a Statement

Joan Gotti’s request for The Little Silver Borough’s response to the George Floyd killing

June 6, 2020

Dear Mayor Neff and the Little Silver Council members,

Utility companies, food blogs, Little Silver Chief of Police, the YMCA, the National Football League and countless others are all taking a firm stand against the tragedy of George Floyd’s murder, police and citizen violence against black people and empathizing with the pain and suffering of our black brothers and sisters due to systemic racism in the United States.

And yet, you and the Little Silver Council are silent. 

Our community, a white suburban neighborhood, is not in a bubble untouched by what is happening in our surrounding communities, the state of New Jersey and our nation at large.  New Jersey, with few exceptions, is successfully marching peacefully because public leaders, mayors, police chiefs, elected officials, police and citizens of every color and age group are engaging positively and acknowledging that Black Lives Matter. 

And yet, you and the Little Silver Council are silent.

Racism is a complex social dynamic and we as white people too often do not speak up or show leadership at times such as these. We don’t want to rock the boat. It’s easier to slink into our corners than to confront the wrong doing of racial bias and prejudice. Systemic racism is real. Police violence against black people is real. 

Mayor, your silence and the Little Silver Council’s silence are not going unnoticed.

It is important that you and the Council of Little Silver take a stand. Acknowledge that systemic racism is real and that you and the Council stand for justice and for an America that doesn’t discriminate based on the color of one’s skin - that what happened to George Floyd and countless others is not acceptable.

As a homogenous group, the power you have to demonstrate leadership will provide our children a pathway to understand and learn the history of our country that got us here today. Our history is fraught. We all need to truly understand how slavery, the Civil War, Jim Crowe, redlining, lack of GI bills for education and loans, separate bathroom facilities, Green Books for lodging and restaurants, discrimination in housing and workplace, lack of voting rights, etc., etc., are all a part of today’s unrest. 

Can’t you provide leadership to acknowledge the pain that is occurring in our society and to implore our residents to be courageous and brave? Our privilege allows us to ignore. Let us collectively not ignore this moment. 

Too often, leaders want to take the easy way out. Don’t do that. Our lack of diversity in Little Silver will not serve us in the years to come. Our nation is changing. Our community needs to meet that change and change with it to prosper in the years ahead. 

We all must be brave. We all must be courageous.

Respectfully submitted,

Joan G. Gotti

Little Silver