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Offensive, Quasi-Racist Tropes

While I have no doubt that most Guilford residents would agree with the opening sentiments expressed in the July letter by David Roberts titled “Thin Blue Line,” I must take issue with the subtext that revealed itself later in his words.

The Guilford Police Department is highly professional and understanding of the concept of customer service in a way that unfortunately many urban forces are not; clearly it does not suffer from the systemic issues that have come to the fore in other places in recent months. Indeed, one hopes that its members would be as horrified as I am that praise for them morphs later in the letter into offensive, quasi-racist tropes.

The prevalence of BLM lawn signs in our “tranquil little town” is not a harbinger of impending anarchy; it is an expression of support for those residents of New Haven (used, amusingly, by Mr. Roberts as an avatar of somewhere to be feared) and elsewhere in the country who often do not enjoy the tranquility that we do.

Such tired sentiments are unworthy of Guilford.

David Byron-Brown

Guilford