Hate has no home here: Wyckoff rally responds to bias crime at Chinese restaurant

WYCKOFF — Stepping up to the microphone, Lisa Eidel was confident in the message she wanted to deliver to her fellow township residents. She had done this before. 

Eidel, speaking Saturday as a Wyckoff resident rather than a candidate for Township Committee, has been a consistent proponent in the fight to fly a rainbow flag in the township in celebration of Pride Month, an ongoing controversy even as the flag was approved and raised this month. 

But as she spoke about her two Black sons, ages 8 and 5, and their future, she paused, wiped a tear from her eye, took a deep breath and continued. 

"I'm a gay woman with two Black sons in a white community," she said. "If I don't stand up to the fact that there's racism in this town, who is going to?" 

Community members, government officials and religious leaders gathered in front of Town Hall on Saturday in response to an incident earlier in the week, which Wyckoff police have labeled a bias crime, at the New Gourmet Garden Chinese restaurant. 

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The restaurant was spray-painted with the terms "coronavirus" and "Go home to China," which have since been removed. Since Wednesday, the restaurant has been flooded with orders from those in the community looking to show their support. 

But the rally did not exclusively address incidents against the Asian American population. Many spoke about the Latino community, and almost everyone discussed the recent nationwide events affecting Black Americans. 

"I don't want to tell my 8-year-old, burst that sweet innocent bubble that he's living in, that says you're not going to be able to wear a hoodie, you can't keep your hands in your pockets when you go shopping, make sure you always have a receipt," Eidel said. "I have to educate his friends to make sure they always stay with him when the police show up."

Regardless of every resident's unique speech, song or sign, each conveyed the same message: Hate has no home in Wyckoff. 

"I believe in this town," Eidel said. "And I believe we can do better."

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Pastor Joseph Schattauer-Paille, of Advent Lutheran Church in Wyckoff, shared a message of repentance with regard to racism in the township and urged protesters to "turn and walk in a different way than you've been going." 

"If this is 'not who we are,' why does this keep happening again and again?" he said.  

Many residents took to the mic, which was sanitized after each speaker, to share their own experiences of racism or bias while living in Wyckoff. Some of those who spoke are in interracial marriages, some are the parents of Black children and some said they have been the subject of racially driven comments or microaggressions while attending Wyckoff's schools. 

Dotty Blakeslee, one of the rally organizers, spoke about her experiences as a Chinese American in Wyckoff, and recent Facebook posts from township residents that prompted her and the other organizers to set up the rally. 

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"It's not just Wyckoff. I think it's necessary everywhere," Blakeslee said. "The incident that happened earlier this week was the impetus for this, but this is a conversation that should be happening everywhere."

Of Wyckoff's five Township Committee members, Elizabeth Fischer was the only one in attendance Saturday. According to Eidel and Blakeslee, Mayor Timothy Shanley had been asked twice by organizers to speak at the rally, but both messages went unanswered. 

"This is not a Republican-Democrat issue," Blakeslee said. "This is a human rights issue."