Akron Mayor Shammas Malik did what eight Akron City Council members asked, and cancelled public events two weeks after a mass shooting. Their response was unacceptable.
On June 14, eight members of the Akron City Council sent a letter to Mayor Shammas Malik urging him to cancel Juneteenth events following a tragic shooting at a party on June 2. “To allow city-sanctioned gatherings so soon after this tragedy is irresponsible. We strongly urge the events to be cancelled,” they wrote.
Despite the impact cancelling Juneteenth celebrations would have on organizers, their finances, and a community in deep need of coming together, Mayor Malik did as these eight council members asked and cancelled public events for the weekend of June 14–16. “When I get a letter like that, I take it seriously,” he said. Malik deferred to their request despite the fact that there was “no credible threat to this weekend’s Juneteenth events.”
Fela Sutton, an organizer of the Akron Black Coalition’s 26th Annual Juneteenth Festival, told WKYC, “This is devastating. This hurts my heart. All the effort that is put into this event. All the children who aren’t here right now.”
Hours later, the same group of city council members — a mix of Black and white representatives — blasted the mayor for doing what they asked. “We want to be clear that we did not request that the mayor cancel all large gatherings on city-owned property,” they wrote.
They didn’t stop there.
“While there have been no known credible threats against this year’s Juneteenth events, the fact remains that gun play and gun violence is an everyday reality in the African American community… Those who do not share such lived experiences are challenged to fully understand and appreciate the fear and trauma experienced by those for which gun violence is an everyday occurrence. A young man was shot at a Juneteenth event last year and his life will forever remain impacted. His shooter has still not been apprehended. Shootings occur at football practices.”
“Shootings occur at football practices.” They also occur at high schools and splash parks. Inside night clubs, Walmarts, and Tops supermarkets. In most cases, mass shootings are carried out by white people. In many cases, the victims are people of color deliberately targeted while shopping or doing other, ordinary things.
A close reading of the two council letters, together, suggest that these eight members wanted Mayor Malik to cancel Juneteenth events alone. Apparently, they expected him to allow large gatherings like the American Heart Association Walk to continue.
I am a white person. I do not share the lived experiences of Black people. But I do know how some white people think. The council’s rebuttal letter to Mayor Malik’s action, in response to their request, reinforces stereotypes some white people hold about guns and African Americans. Instead of recognizing gun violence is a problem affecting people of every race, they used stereotypes about Black people to argue for the cancellation of Juneteenth events alone.
Perhaps taking steps to ensure guns aren’t brought into any and all public events should be the move. Mayor Malik is working to reschedule the cancelled events with safety plans.
Kalandra McDowell, whose son LaTeris Cook was killed at the June 2 shooting in Akron, wrote on Facebook:
Everyone in Akron government needs to read and follow Ms. McDowell’s wishes. And the city council members who started this controversy over public gatherings, and then tried to walk away from it when Mayor Malik did as they asked, need to understand their role in reinforcing racist stereotypes. People of all races are responsible for gun violence and we should all be responsible for ending it.
The Akron City Council members who called on Mayor Malik to cancel Juneteenth events, and threw him under the bus when he did, are Sommerville, Hannah, Fusco, McKitrick, Connor, DeShazior, Lombardo, and Davis. The council members who did not sign the letters are Kammer, Hardy, Boyes, Omobien, and Garret, Sr. Contact them here.
Today, this Facebook commenter will have the last word.
