Canfield’s racial inequity reckoning continues with Black Lives Matter protest and counterprotest

[EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been update to correct the race of Jillian Mt. Castle's father.]

CANFIELD — A Black Lives Matter protest and counterprotest played out in Canfield on Sunday as protests against police brutality and racial inequity continue around the nation.

The counterprotest that materialized across the street from the Black Lives Matter rally disappointed Ke'Lynn Dean.

Dean, a member of the local civil rights education group Sojourn to the Past, traveled from Youngstown to Canfield on Sunday morning to deliver a speech during the rally. By noon, about 50 people gathered near the rally with a massive speaker that drowned out the chants of Black Lives Matter protesters with various renditions of the national anthem. Many people who drove by honked their horns loudly, shouting and throwing thumbs-ups to the counterprotesters.

The Black Lives Matter protesters migrated to the Canfield United Methodist Church so the group could hear the speakers.

Dean, a Black man and rising freshman at Youngstown State University, said his grandparents have always told him not to visit Canfield. He said his relatives and friends have told him story after story about getting pulled over while driving in Canfield.

"I don't feel welcome here," he said.

But Dean said he feels hopeful because "most of them are not young," he said about the group across the street. "The youth does not agree with them."

While the Black Lives Matter protest was organized by Jay Cohen, a 67-year-old Canfield resident, it featured multiple generations, including young children and a group of Canfield High School students.

Jillian Mt. Castle, a rising freshman at Kent State University, just graduated from Canfield High School. She arrived early Sunday to chalk the sidewalks around the village green with messages like "No Justice, No Peace" and "Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor."

Mt. Castle, who is white, said she has two gay dads, one of whom is Black. Growing up in Canfield, she said she witnessed his experience of racism. She said she's glad her niece, who is Black, does not live in Canfield.

"I'd be sad for her to experience racism firsthand at 8 years old," Mt. Castle said. "It's not welcoming here, really."

Holly Niotti-Soltesz, who stood across the street holding a Trump flag, disagreed.

She said she thinks signs reading "End Racism" sow further division. When asked what she thinks about people who think Canfield is not welcoming to people of color, Niotti-Soltesz said, "That's their interpretation and their perception. Their perception doesn't make it reality."

Whether Canfield is welcoming was the topic of debate at a forum titled "Diversity, Policing and Progress" that was hosted at Fair Park on July 9. The crowd there discussed Canfield's enduring reputation when it comes to race, specifically that people of color can become targets of police when they drive through the community.

That event attracted a group that called itself the Mahoning County Patriots — about 10 white men who wore American flag shirts, some with guns affixed to their belts. A few members showed up at the Sunday protest, too.

Sunday's protest followed a similar event that occurred on Father's Day last month. While peaceful, the Father's Day protesters were met by some antagonizers.

At the July 9 forum, Canfield resident Sally Ifill described her experience at the rally in June.

"They really revved their big trucks and swore at us," she said, describing her group as a "bunch of educators and librarians and yoga instructors" who were subjected to "the finger."

Disagreements about whether Canfield is welcoming to people of color weren't the only perspectives that divided the groups on opposite sides of Main Street on Sunday.

The Black Lives Matter protesters were all wearing face coverings in accordance with the statewide mask mandate that went into effect Thursday. All but a handful of the counterprotesters were not wearing masks despite the order, which mandates face coverings for most people in outdoor areas where social distancing is not possible.

For 18 straight days, Ohio had added more than 1,000 coronavirus cases. The state broke that streak Sunday with 838 new confirmed cases.

This story was originally published July 26, 2020 at 3:44 PM with the headline "Canfield’s racial inequity reckoning continues with Black Lives Matter protest and counterprotest."