MANCHESTER, NH – Local residents gathered at Veterans’ Park on Saturday to show their support for police officers, and ultimately for the community as a whole.
2018 Manchester Mayoral candidate and former New Hampshire State Representative Victoria Sullivan referred to the event as a day of unity, aiming to bridge divisions seen elsewhere in the country between supporters of police officers and supporters of police reform.
“I think sometimes the argument becomes ‘back the blue’ versus ‘black lives matter,’ and that’s not what any of this was about. I don’t believe it has to be one or the other,” she said. “We don’t want that divide here in Manchester, we want a community that we build together where we support each other.”
Sullivan says she has been impressed by the professionalism and compassion of Manchester Police officers in the past during moments such as a ride-along she took with police last year, their efforts with the Manchester Police Athletic League as well as at a peaceful protest on Elm Street and South Willow Street earlier this year that was disrupted by a small minority who harassed police officers.
Nationally, Sullivan believes that each community faces different challenges, but both respect for police as well as racial justice is possible with understanding.
“I think we all need to start talking with each other as humans and once we do, the racial divide will begin to disappear,” she said.
Michael Worsley of New Testament Christian Fellowship on Pine Street was another one of the speakers at the event.
As an African American, Worsley says he has had negative interactions with police in the past, but those interactions were overshadowed with positive ones, adding that he felt an obligation to support police officers as an American and a minister.
A Manchester resident since 1985, Worsley says he’s seen more racial diversity over the years come to New Hampshire. Although he believes the state is not free from problems, race relations are better here than in other parts of the country.
He credits that in part to New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, who he says is attempting to bring racial conciliation across the state. Worsley also believes that more attention needs to be focused on peaceful protests over riots and that people should be treated as individuals.
“I think there are two sides to protests,” said Worsley. “I agree that we do have some issues in law enforcement that need to be addressed, but I can no more blame every police officer across the country than I can have someone blame me for an African American on TV who has committed a crime.”