Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on June 7, and has been corrected to reflect clarified and updated information from quoted individuals.

By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT – While most people are used to the national news, and its share of far-flung stories of hate crimes, it’s important to remember that they happen here, too.  That became a focus of discussion Thursday at a meeting of TEAM, the town’s committee on diversity, equity, and inclusion, as town officials and advocates working to stop hate crimes shared some local stories.

Deputy Police Chief David Wolf described a racial incident that occurred in Westport on Memorial Day, when a nasty racial slur was called out to a 12-year-old walking in town. The perpetrator was in a moving vehicle, and license plate information has not yielded results so far of the person’s identity, he said.

Since the incident is still under investigation, he could not give out detailed information. It is likely, however, that the person in the vehicle was not from Westport, he said.

Working together to fight back against hate locally

Several national antisemitic crimes, plus an incident reported recently in Greenwich, and one in Weston, has incited “fear and pain in the Jewish community,” Jill Nadel, a board member of the Anti-Defamation League told TEAM members at the meeting.

In Greenwich, a child on a playground was punched in the face and told it was because she is Jewish. She ended up in the hospital. And in a Weston school, a Jewish football player’s locker was vandalized with a swastika.

Nationally, fire bombs were ignited and thrown into a crowd in Boulder, Colorado on June 1 at a protest for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, injuring more than a dozen; and on May 21 two staff members from the Israeli embassy in Wash. D.C. were killed as they left an event at a Jewish museum.

“It’s more important than ever to live proudly and not to hide,” Nadel said of the Jewish community, despite “a growing sense of fear.” But, for some, the current atmosphere is frighteningly reminiscent of times in history when Jews were persecuted, she said.

“American Jews do not vote in Israel,” she said. “We don’t have any answers, we just appreciate the opportunity to talk about it.”

She suggested that one way to help lessen the fear and sadness in the community over antisemitism is for people to say to their Jewish neighbor or friend, “I’m sorry. I stand with you.”

TEAM member Althea Seaborn, said her son was the target of racial bias in a private out-of-town high school. “For some of them it’s because of their parents,” she said of the perpetrators. “For young people it’s tragic and painful.”

District 3 RTM member Jimmy Izzo, who attended the TEAM meeting, agreed. “It starts at home.” he said, and parents have to teach their children to stand up for others who are the target of discrimination.

“It’s no different than a person who steals something and then others walk away with them,” without talking to the thief about their actions, he said. “We need to educate people.”

Local resources educate against hate

The town has services to help both victims and perpetrators of bias, Elaine Daignault, Director of Human Services, said at the meeting. She and some of her staff members are trained mediators who work with out-of-control youth, she said, and in situations of bullying and bias.

Daignault and several others attending the TEAM meeting complimented the Westport Police for their ongoing work in fighting discriminatory incidents in town.

“They do constant behind-the-scenes work,” Daignault said of the Westport Police. “They work to influence kids and parents before situations worsen.”

Westport schools also have numerous anti-discrimination programs, said Harold Bailey, the chairman of TEAM. One program that was successful during the school year has been “No Place for Hate,” he said. All eight schools in Westport received certification this year for the work they completed in the program, Schools Superintendent Thomas Scarice told the TEAM members.

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York University and Southern Connecticut State University.