Buffalo, Minn. Community Members Continue To Have Tough Conversations About Race
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- For the past two months, the city of Buffalo, Minnesota has been having tough conversations about what it's like to be Black in a community where 98% of the population is white.
The conversation started with a protester asking for change. And now he has the ears of people who can make change happen.
Corey Moore's voice, from 38th and Chicago to his backyard in Buffalo, has led all kinds of people to pause.
From the few neighbors who understand, to officials ready to listen.
Buffalo's mayor, its high school principal, police chief, city administrators and its pastor sat down to do just that -- listen.
"I have had my kids called the n-word several times at school. I think one of the things that beat me up is when my daughter said, 'oh she didn't mean to she was just kidding.' And the fact that she had to laugh that off and think that that was okay whether her friend was kidding or not, at such a young age, is unacceptable," Angelisa Doverspike said.
Brianna Eittreim grew up in Buffalo and said she was usually the only Black girl in the classroom, often called the most intimidating girl at her school. At one point, she said she was ready to drop out.
Instead, she moved out and goes to Columbia College, in Chicago.
"I have been on the dean's list every single semester, but every single time I come back to Buffalo, I'm reminded that I'll never measure up," Eittreim said.
At the end of the conversation, the community members promised to keep talking, and moving forward together.
"We have a lot to learn, we do, but I'm willing to learn it and be part of it," Mark Mischke, Buffalo High School principal, said.
"I'm gonna love my neighbors regardless of what color they are," Moore said. If you need my help as a neighbor in my community, I'm gonna help you."