(This is the full version of a Letter To The Editor which was published in the Greenwich Post on Thursday, August 19, 2010)

Let’s Separate The Issues, Not The People

By Claude Johnson

My family background and life story predispose me to bringing together people who are different, or have differing views, especially when those differences are keeping them apart.

I have this tendency not only when it comes to culture, ethnicity, and race, but also for just about any other topic. One person can’t stand the Red Sox, and another despises the Yankees, but they both love baseball, right? I was taught to look for things in common.

I am a Greenwich resident, and I care about our town. So, could we find something constructive in the recent divisive debate concerning Island Beach?

A heated discussion began among local residents after the Greenwich Time newspaper published a letter to the editor by former Tax Collector candidate Rick Novakowski, in which he complained about deteriorating conditions – noise, loud music, rudeness, safety, litter, and overcrowding – on the island, and made the now infamous comment, “July Fourth at Island Beach seemed more like a celebration of Cinco de Mayo than it did Independence Day.”

Questions began to swirl about whether the beach should be exclusively for the use of Greenwich residents, whether too many non-residents were using it, whether enough usage guidelines were in place, and why reference was being made to the culture, ethnicity, or race of any Island Beach visitors at all.

To find out more on what was behind this, I decided to visit Novakowsi at his home in Cos Cob. I know Rick from the Greenwich Flag Football League, where he helped coach one of my sons this year on the Dolphins, and where I helped coach his son two seasons ago with the Packers. That season, his son had at least one Latino child as a teammate who was a key member of our team, helped get us into the playoffs, and was an all-around great kid.

I brought one of my sons along, and after welcoming me to sit down in the side yard, Rick’s son, and my son went inside to play video games.

I first asked if “Novakowski” was indeed Polish; Rick laughed, said it was, and that he himself is also half-Italian, both sides of the family stemming from European immigrants. Since we were sharing our backgrounds, I told Rick my mother was a European immigrant too, from Germany, and that my father is African American, from the South Side of Chicago. As for me, I was born in Austria and speak German fluently. Being multi-lingual, multi-national, multi-cultural, and multi-racial is why I know that most things in life have two or more sides.

I like Rick. We’ve chatted on the football sidelines about this and that. He seems passionate and energetic, and he’s always been cordial with me. Still, his highly publicized and widely distributed comment comparing July Fourth on Island Beach to Cinco de Mayo was embarrassing for Greenwich, especially since many people outside our town borders already have a pre-conceived idea of what Greenwich is all about, though it’s often wrong. Couldn’t we use a new impression of our town? For one thing, Greenwich is proud of its diversity.

Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday celebrated on May Fifth, commemorating the Mexican militia’s underdog victory over Napoleon’s powerful French army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, a pivotal and proud moment for that nation, much the way July Fourth is for Americans.

What was the intention behind Rick’s comment? Did he know how inflammatory, divisive, and hurtful such phrasing is, in the context of “us” and “them.” Didn’t he know that by mentioning this holiday alongside his complaints, he was equating deterioration with the presence of Hispanic people? I reminded Rick that not long ago in this country and in Europe, that same suggestion was used to justify discrimination against his Polish ancestors.

Shouldn’t we be happy and appreciative that such a wide variety of people want to celebrate Fourth of July, our national holiday? Isn’t this a prime opportunity to find common ground?

I want to see if it’s possible for all of us to separate out the issues. Can we discuss Rick’s real concerns about the protection and preservation of Island Beach as a town jewel without getting sidetracked by cultural, ethnic, or racial commentary?

My own position on Island Beach is that Greenwich residents ought to get “first dibs” on one thing or another, since we pay the taxes that support it, but with fairness and without being exclusionary. What about looking at the non-resident fee? What about setting aside certain days, or certain time slots as resident-only? What about building greater awareness among our bordering towns, of how special Island Beach is, and why? What about encouraging and even rewarding responsible use of the facilities? People who have a vested interest always take better care of their surroundings.

Rick agreed with me that there are at least three separate topics introduced by his letter to the editor. One is the issue of conditions on Island Beach as well as on the ferry that takes passengers there and back. Another is about non-resident usage of the facility. A third is the culture, ethnicity, or race of its visitors. I could tell that this separation exercise wasn’t so easy for Rick. Still, we discussed all three issues, separately.

After talking for a while, I got a better understanding of what precipitated Rick’s anger and resentment that day, when he was riding the ferry with his family. It was an isolated incident, which involved cursing in earshot of his kids by a solitary intoxicated old woman, who was quickly squelched by others in her company. However, by then the damage had been done.

Too many times, people on either side of a situation don’t know how to apologize, much less with resolve. So the incident went unsettled, just adding to the already existing accumulation of unresolved negative feelings from all sides, that has built up over the years, while Greenwich has been steadily changing. Ours is not the same town it once was. For some, that’s sad. For some, that’s good. For most of us, it just “is.” Change happens, no matter how we feel about it or how much we try to resist.

Rick’s reaction to the event – his letter published in the Greenwich Time – included some of this residual resentment and anxiety. Unfortunately, it got the issues so tangled up that they could hardly be meaningfully discussed. Yet, just as the drunken cursing on the ferry was isolated, so was Rick’s comment. Neither says anything about any of the actual issues, or about Greenwich residents, or about Latinos. In any case, just because some believe his comment was prejudiced, doesn’t mean they disagree with his other points about protecting and preserving Island Beach and the experience of going there. Likewise, just because an individual agrees with Rick’s points about Island Beach, doesn’t mean that person is discriminatory. Yet with each subsequent letter to the editor by a wide range of citizens with varying opinions, the issues at hand became increasingly difficult to untangle.

Meanwhile, Rick and I agreed that we couldn’t go back in time, either as individuals or as a town, or even as a country. Certain niceties and traditions, no matter how “frivolous” they seem, should stay, because they help add to the quality of life here. Other aspects of the past, we outgrow. Our Founding Fathers didn’t say, “I want my country back.” What country? Instead, they built themselves into their future, first by envisioning it, then by collaborating with a diverse many to make it happen. That’s the American way. It’s who we are. To that point, Greenwich should be represented by the best we have to offer. Effective leadership takes courage and inclusion, not labels or “otherization.”

So now what? First, I’d like to invite Rick to share a beverage with me, and a fellow Greenwich resident Latino friend of mine, at the Joseph Pilsudski Society on Arch Street (that’s the Polish American Club). I went down there the other day to check it out just for this purpose – a perfect spot. It would be just the three of us, and maybe even a constructive local newspaper reporter, if one will step forward. Beyond this, I suggest that the town hold some meetings to discuss these issues as the separate topics that they are. Let’s include everyone in those valuable conversations.

Tags: Cinco de Mayo, conditions, deterioration, ferry, Island Beach, Latino, overcrowding, preservation, Rick Novakowski, Town of Greenwich