Hundreds Gather In Westhampton To Demand Racial Equality

WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NY — With chants of "Black Lives Matter" and "No justice, no peace," several hundred protestors rallied on Main Street in Westhampton on Saturday afternoon to demand racial equality and an end to police brutality in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

The demonstration, one of several on the East End this weekend, was a grassroots effort organized mostly by recent alumni of Westhampton Beach High School, said David Cable, 20, one of the organizers and a 2017 graduate. "A lot us share a common goal," he said. "It's about devotion to bring about criminal justice reform in this country and to inform the uninformed of the plight that black Americans face every single day."

Main Street in Westhampton was closed for a little over an hour to accommodate the protestors, who gathered around speakers at the center of town before marching down Main Street to the green across from St. Mark's Episcopal Church. The crowd was diverse — a mix of white and black, young and old. Many carried signs demanding equal rights for black Americans, or listing the names of black victims of police violence. Nearly everyone wore a face covering of some sort, even if strict social distancing wasn't in effect.

Some local businesses offered bottled water to demonstrators. Police stood by on sidewalks. There were no incidents or arrests.

"We had a lot of great support from local businesses — it was amazing to see," Cable said. "It blew my expectations out of the water."

Speakers, both black and white, spoke of Long Island's troubled history of racism and about the ways they encounter racism in their daily lives. For Willie Jenkins, a black man from Bridgehampton, it was seeing a white woman clutch her purse when he approached. For the mother of a Latina student at Westhampton Beach High School, it was hearing that a white student had told her daughter she'd be sent out of the country when Donald Trump was elected president.

The biggest cheers of day came when Eric Williams of Riverhead told the crowd, "We are being run by a clown — register to vote."

More protests are planned around Long Island tomorrow, in Mineola, Hauppauge, East Hampton, Rockville Centre and Farmingdale, among other towns. The Instagram account justiceforgeorgeli maintains an ongoing list of planned demonstrations.

"The plan is for more demonstrations — we definitely want to keep the momentum going," Cable said. "The American dream should be achievable for everyone."