Demonstrators filled several blocks in Concord on Saturday as they marched to the State House to peacefully support Black Lives Matter. The event was organized by local students, who spoke to protesters from the steps of the State House.
NHPR's All Things Considered host Peter Biello interviewed Samuel Alicea, a student leader at Saturday's march.
Today, he’s a junior at Morehouse College in Atlanta, but more than three years ago he was a football player at Merrimack Valley High School. He says people in his town turned on him after he started taking a knee during the national anthem before football games.
"It really got out of hand when someone shot a BB gun through my grandmother’s windshield," he says. "But it was a series of things. People saying they would fight me if I did it. They would hit me. People telling me to get off the field while I was playing. People calling me names right behind my mother and grandmother and family friends that came to watch."
Note: the following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
You were threatened by classmates and adults when you protested the national anthem in 2016. You ended up leaving the state for college….now that you’re back, what are you seeing? Has the level or nature of racism in New Hampshire changed at all in the past few years?
I’ll say from what I saw at the protests on Saturday it looks like we've made progress, because I couldn't have imagined this many people, back when I was 16,17,18 attending protests such as this one. And I do know people personally people who I went to high school with that have reached out to me and apologized and let me know that they've changed their way of thinking
At the same time, just the other day my car got keyed right before I went to the protests, my grandmother let me know. So it’s bittersweet. It seems like there's been a lot of progress made but there's still going to be some people that oppose
Your car was keyed recently?
Yes. We all saw it Saturday morning, right before I left for the protests.
When you see something like that, damage to your car, did you feel the need to call the police, and if so, did you feel comfortable calling the police?
I would never, I would never, I’m sorry, I would never call the police, I wouldn't.
I've never done it before unless it was a butt dial and I don't plan on doing that. I think that I’d be better off figuring out what happened on my own.
Why is that?
I mean if you were to call the police there’s obviously a difference between our skin colors. You’re white, I’m not.
I think if I were to call the police, I mean, you've seen videos, black people will run a stop sign and then get a whole six different cruisers following them and meeting them at their house.
There’s no way I’d be safe with the police around.
This is the second weekend of protests, what do you think is keeping the momentum going?
You know, I’m not entirely sure. A big part of it is the news, I do think social media plays a big part, I think media in general. But more particularly the video of George Floyd, which I don't plan on watching in full, but I have seen in still images and short little clips of that event.
And I think it’s a combination between quarantine, everything going on with COVID.
The government is very clearly showing their true colors to everybody, not just the historically disenfranchised, and on top of that the video.
In 2017 you were worried that “taking a knee” was being co-opted by white people, almost as if the protest had been whitewashed. With more and more white people coming out to Black Lives Matter events, is that still a concern today?
I’m not as concerned as I used to be, it wasn't my main concern back then and it's not now. I have to say I'm proud to have so many people joining.
My concern back then was, I was worried that white people were getting it a little bit mixed up. Sort of how with the rioting you would see out-of-staters come and start letting out a little bit of white rage, and it had nothing to do with George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery, or Breonna Taylor.
With the protesting, it seems like, from what I've seen, especially in New Hampshire, everyone has been aware of what's going on, and they've made themselves a clear ally. Whereas in 2017 and even with the rioting it felt like people were sort of joining in for their own issues, whereas today it Black Lives Matter all around.
Well Samuel Alicea, thank you very much for speaking with me. I really appreciate it.
Absolutely thank you for having me.
