Five years ago this week, an unspeakable act of violence, motivated solely by racial hatred, shattered the peace and calm of an early-summer Saturday afternoon in the community of Winthrop.
A 28 year-old white man, a native of Wareham who had been living in Winthrop for a short time with his wife, shot two Black persons, 60 year-old Ramona Cooper, a retired Air Force veteran who only recently had moved to Winthrop, and 68 year-old David Green, a Winthrop native and retired State Trooper who was beloved in the Winthrop community, in cold blood when they crossed paths on Shirley St. near Cross St.
Thanks to the quick response of Winthrop police and the heroism of Sgt. Nicholas Bettano, the suspect himself was shot in the street when he refused to put down his weapons (he was armed with two handguns).
It is believed that the shooter, whose belongings later were found to contain white supremacist and anti-Semitic literature, may have been en route to the nearby local temple and synagogue with the intent of perpetrating a mass shooting incident before he was stopped by Sgt. Bettano.
To be sure, both Ramona Cooper and David Green happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, given that the shooter did not fire his weapon at white passers-by, his intent to shoot his victims solely because they were Black is undeniable.
Those of us who live in the Boston area like to think that we are immune from the sort of racial and religious bigotry-inspired acts of violence that make the headlines in other states. However, the Anti-Defamation League reported that acts of anti-Semtiism have spiked in Massachusetts and for the first time in state history, antisemitic incidents surpassed all other bias categories (including race) to become the most common hate crime reported in Massachusetts.
The sad fact is that no place in America today is immune from the virus of prejudice, including our own community.
The best way that we can honor the memories of Ramona Cooper and David Green is never to forget that tragic and horrible day — and to resolve to do whatever we can to end the evils of racism and all other forms of prejudice that are far too prevalent throughout our society.