Pledge to reach out and respect

When the conversation turned mean and ugly in social media, on local talk radio and in letters to the editor after the Ferguson grand jury decision, it became obvious that something needed to be done. Quickly. Unite Rochester's newly organized Community Crisis Response Team mobilized.

The result is the pledge published beneath this editorial. It asks community members from across the region to move from their often like-minded silos and engage people who are different in respectful dialogue about racial and economic inequities.

The pledge was carefully crafted based on lively discussions at a hastily called meeting of about 25 elected and community leaders at the Democrat and Chronicle last week. Mayor Lovely Warren; Mike Mazzeo, leader of the Rochester police union; and Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn were among those who helped word the pledge, along with members of the Community Crisis Response Team.

The team was organized late last month by Unite Rochester to respond to community emergencies. Leaders of Unite Rochester unanimously agreed that the verbal bomb-throwing witnessed Thanksgiving week warranted the team's immediate activation, overruling an earlier decision to announce its formation early next year.

During the 90-minute discussion that was led by the Center for Dispute Settlement, leaders — Republicans and Democrats — from the city, suburbs and across the county, talked candidly and respectfully about what transpired a week earlier.

Warren and Mazzeo sat next to each other and passionately defended the positions that they'd taken, which set off a racially charged firestorm. But by the end of the discussion, their earlier sour faces had turned to smiles. That's what can happen when people air their differences and take the time to try to understand each other's point of view. The mayor and police union boss now have a stronger base on which to build a stronger relationship going forward. Familiarity does that.

The Unite Rochester pledge is designed to help everyday citizens in the same way. Maybe had some residents in Spencerport sought greater understanding of people different from themselves last week, a scheduled vote by the village's school board on joining the Urban-Suburban student exchange program would not have been postponed.

Because misinformation and fear overtook the commendable efforts of the Spencerport school superintendent to expand the 50-year-old exchange program into his district, the vote was put on hold until early next year. Maybe it's just as well. In the interim, special efforts should be made to bridge understanding about what the expansion could mean for the Spencerport school district and students from the city.

Across the county, residents can help reduce distrust and fear among people who are different. Sign the pledge.