Politics & Government

Hundreds Of Demonstrators Rally In Lake Forest To Denounce Racism

"People refuse to discuss or acknowledge that there are problems here," attendees were told. "And this stops today."​​

Hundreds of people attended a demonstration in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and a vigil for George Floyd Wednesday evening at Market Square.
Hundreds of people attended a demonstration in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and a vigil for George Floyd Wednesday evening at Market Square. (Andrew Walter)

LAKE FOREST, IL — Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at Market Square Wednesday evening to support of the Black Lives Matter movement and take part in a moment of silence in memory of George Floyd, whose in-custody death last month has sparked nationwide protests against racism and police misconduct.

Organized by a handful of past and present Lake Forest High School, the event featured addresses from people of color who live or grew up in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff, activists from other communities and local elected officials.

Angel Massie is a journalist who moved to Lake Forest with her husband, Chicago Bears offensive tackle Bobby Massie. She described her experience of moving to Lake Forest as a person of color.

Find out what's happening in Lake Forest-Lake Bluffwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I immediately noticed that almost no one looked like me, I would go months without seeing another black face in my neighborhood. Even more off-putting were the confused looks, the snide remarks and obvious questions from other white residents wondering if I belonged here," Massie said.

"Of course, the mood changed when they learned my husband played for the Bears. This immediate acceptability saddened me, and it still does," she said. "Today, many of us in Lake Forest are cossetted in our bubble of security and success. We are able to turn a blind eye to the systemic oppression that marginalized people face every day, because it just isn't our reality."

Find out what's happening in Lake Forest-Lake Bluffwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Anika Exum grew up in Lake Bluff until moving away to attend college six years ago. While she did not experience the same form of blatant discrimination as her father did growing up a few decades ago, Exum said, she described a more insidious form of racism.

"For me, there was this tacitness to the racism I experienced that made it feel almost as traumatizing. On numerous occasions, my dad and I were made aware that we didn't belong here," she said. He would get mistaken for a hired dogwalker while walking the dog, Exum said. She recalled a neighbor that she was babysitting for asking where she comes from even though she lived across the street.

"In high school at LFHS, we didn't openly talk about race or racism, just six years ago. And knowing our differences from the hordes of white students around us, my fellow students of color and I often drew back to classmates of color to talk to each other in terms of microaggressions and racist comments, confirming that we were experiencing such things as a collective of the few minorities at the school," Exum said.

"People refuse to discuss or acknowledge that there are problems here," she said. "And this stops today."

Sydney Barber, a recent Lake Forest High School graduate and a rising senior at the U.S. Naval Academy, said the dynamics of racism in American means black people are subject to discrimination regardless of their level of wealth, education of social class.

"Remember this, the same black faces that you have seen in the halls every day, [are] the same hurt people who carry a burden that is deeply women into the fabric of our American society. Although they don't scream in your face or plea for your attention each and every moment, remember that the fight of those men [Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Freddy Gray, Fernando Castille, Eric Garner and others] is their fight too, and they've been battling it in plain sight, right before your eyes," Barber said.

"I feel blessed to be graced with the opportunities I have been and the safe neighborhood I grew up in, in the stellar school system that I was educated by. I can't ignore my own privilege, or ignore the fact that my experience as a black American is different than many others," she said. "However, that does not mean that the same battles have not been fought in the sheltered grounds of predominantly white suburbs. My graduating high school class was 1.1. percent African-American. For many of my friends from high school, I'm the only black or brown face they will ever know — not see on the news, but call friends. "

Kimberly Snodgrass, a Lake Bluff resident, reminded attendees that racism does not have a political affiliation. Not all conservatives are racist, she said, and not are liberals are not. She recounted experiencing routine racial bias from other residents.

"One lady in our community actually told me that she would have waved to me when I was in front of my home, but she thought I was the nanny, so she did not acknowledge me," she said. "Can you imagine being that invisible in front of your own home with your own children?"

Snodgrass called on attendees not to tolerate racist behavior if they witness it but to call it out instead.

"Your silence, our silence, in racist situations is permission for that person to continue that behavior. I am asking for you all to step up. Speak up, and do that is right. I realize that many of you don't raise your kids to hate. That you have black friends of family. That you've lived out of the country," she said. "I've heard a lot of these comments, and just because this is your experience, your work does not stop there. I want to see your actions show the love and kindness I know you possess. I want to hear your voice speaking up and saying no more."

Among the politicians who spoke at the rally were 10th District Congressman Brad Schneider (D-Deerfield), 29th District State Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield), 58th District State Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Highwood), West Deerfield Township Trustee Paras Parekh (D-Highland Park), Democratic nominee for Lake County State's Attorney and Highwood resident Eric Rinehart and Democratic Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham.

Cunningham, who declared an indefinite overnight curfew in his city staring Monday following an outbreak of looting by what a police spokesperson described as "violent rioters," said residents of lakefront communities just north of Lake Bluff like North Chicago, Waukegan and Zion formerly felt unwelcome in town.

"We used to think that we couldn't come to Lake Forest. Not just the black folks, some of the white folks live there, the Latinos, because we thought you were better than we were. And if you really want to know the truth, some of you thought you were better than we were," Cunningham said. "But when it comes down to it, it takes tragedies like this to make us understand that you don't like a black man with a knee on his neck — whether it be a police officer or one of us doing it — the same way we don't like it."

Cunningham thanked Lake Forest Mayor George Pandaleon for having him at the event.

"If you want change. Change has to come within us. And you can't wait until the gravy is on top of the meat and potatoes before you start eating it," Cunningham said. "This young man's death and a host of others is the net result because we chose either to be quiet, put blinders on, don't think about, but more importantly it's not me or my family. Now that it has hit you and your family in different ways, now it's time to talk."

Other speakers included Todd Belcore, co-founder of the nonprofit Social Change, Pastor Corey Books of Project H.O.O.D., Pastor Todd Fletcher of First Baptist Church of Lake Forest, Lake Forest College alum Asimwe Oben-Nyarko and former Chicago Bears player Rashied Davis.

Organizers included Zeyad Alam, Kelsey Marx, Gabby Moore, Maddy Moore and Andrew Walter.

According to Lake Forest College archives, local businesses in Lake Forest refused to serve black customers in the 1960s. In October 1967, the first protest was held in downtown Lake Forest, with more than 100 students, faculty and members of the community marching to Market Square in opposition to the war in Vietnam.

"When the students who organized the march attempted to get permits from Lake Forest City Hall, they were told that the City of Lake Forest didn't have any sort of permit for a protest because there had never been one before," according to an exhibit on the history of protesting at the college, where a demonstration in support of the Black Lives Matter movement was held as early as 2014.

According to newspaper archives reviewed by the History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff, more than 100 people took part in a demonstration students from Lake Forest High School took part in a two-day protest in May 1969 where the names of the 35,000 American solders killed in Vietnam.

The largest recorded Lake Forest protest described in the Chicago Tribune's archives was a gathering of more than 250 people in 1966 who crowded into City Hall to oppose felling trees to widen Green Bay Road.

"Society matrons carried picket signs and more than 250 citizens crowded city hall chambers, booing the city fathers whenever the subject was brought up during the meeting," acccording to the newspaper's archives.

In 2015, more than 100 people were reported to have attended a school board meeting in protest of the hiring of Lake Forest High School Principal Chala Holland, in part, because of past statements about "white privilege and internalized racism."

Ahead of Wednesday's march, many local business operators and building management companies boarded up the windows of downtown storefronts as a precaution against property damage.

Plywood was used to cover businesses in downtown Lake Forest ahead of a demonstration on June 3, 2020. (Max Weingardt/NorthShore Updates)

Radio host and Wilmette resident Erich "Mancow" Mueller called for "patriots" to get to Lake Forest ahead of the demonstration.

"They're coming! Stop these a-hole looters!" he said in a social media post. "What a lousy mayor they must have to allow this! [At] this point what moron thought this was a good idea?" he asked.

Supporters of the demonstration and vigil described his post as "total racist fear mongering" and said it "sounds like pretty clear inciting of violence." It was not clear who Muller was describing as a moron and the radio host has yet to respond to a request for comment.

Pandaleon addressed the event in a message released Thursday night. He said city officials considered trying to stop the assembly. Instead police and organizers negotiated revisions to the planned demonstration, which was rescheduled to end by 7 p.m. The mayor said the changes "ensured the safety and security" of residents, attendees and businesses.

"I wish to thank the organizers and all those in the audience for conducting and participating in a peaceful and historic event amidst a great deal of controversy within the community. I heard and understand the concerns that were raised by residents leading up to the demonstration. However, I hope you all can share my pride that we are a community capable of uniting together to exercise our rights peaceably and without incident," he said.

"Even during these times, while we're under the governor's orders that limit our ability to gather, the First Amendment guarantees the rights of citizens to peacefully assemble to demonstrate support for a point of view," he said. "This event was not sanctioned by the City. A permit was neither requested nor issued. Instead, we learned it was happening on Monday afternoon after it went viral on social media. This was a fait accompli that required us to respond. The potential for serious trouble was very real, especially if the situation had been mishandled. We were advised that shutting it down posed a greater public safety risk than allowing it to go on with modifications. Trouble was certainly never inevitable. In the end, it was an outstanding event."

Lake Forest police said there were no reports of any property damage or any criminal activity associated with the event.

"We had no issues," Deputy Chief Rob Copeland told Patch. "Went very smooth."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here