“RASE” to the Rescue? I Doubt It!!!

So, if (Rochester Mayor) Malik D. Evans and (Monroe County Executive) Adam Bello are truly “dedicated to this joint, intergovernmental, collaborative effort to make Rochester and Monroe County an integrated, thriving, and equitable community,” why have they remained largely silent about the years-long controversy unfolding in one of Monroe County’s wealthiest and overwhelmingly white suburbs — Penfield — located just minutes from a city that has repeatedly ranked among the worst places in America for Black residents in measures of racial equity and opportunity?

Howard Eagle

If the “work of the RASE commission is just one step toward rebuilding the City of Rochester and moving Monroe County forward,” then where are the additional steps? More importantly, where is the public leadership when issues involving race and inclusion continue to surface in suburban school districts like Penfield?

I also cannot help but wonder how the Penfield community and school district are treating the mayor’s sister, a Black woman who reportedly recently began working there and who also openly lives what some describe as an “alternative lifestyle.” That question became even more pressing after reading about the incidents connected to this ongoing controversy.

Evans and Bello have publicly stated that “Rochester can no longer be a tale of two cities, separate and unequal. We must be a city and county united for change. Our futures are intimately connected, and we must seize this moment to lift each other up and work toward our common good.”

If that is truly the case, then again I ask: how can elected leaders justify their continued silence regarding what many see as ongoing racial tension and inequity in Penfield?

And beyond the political silence, there is another issue that deserves far more public attention: the impact this environment may be having on the very small number of Black students and other students of color attending schools in Penfield. That is a story the media should seriously examine.

As Penfield’s superintendent reportedly wrote: “Silence allows harm to persist, and inaction risks normalizing a culture that tolerates disrespect and division.”

That statement is important for several reasons.

While the superintendent also reportedly stated that “this behavior is being driven by a small number of individuals and does not reflect the values of the broader Penfield community,” it is difficult to confidently make that claim when so much of the broader community appears silent.

At some point, silence itself becomes part of the problem.

After all, silence can too easily be interpreted as acceptance — or at minimum, indifference — particularly by those directly affected.

As is often the case, there has also been pushback from residents who insist these incidents have nothing to do with racism. Those reactions echo observations made years ago in Rochester by anti-racism scholar and author Ibram X. Kendi, whose work focuses on systemic racism and the ways communities often deny or minimize racial inequities while benefiting from them. Kendi has argued that racism is not limited to openly hateful acts, but can also be reflected in silence, institutional behavior, and resistance to acknowledging racial disparities. Supporters of that perspective say the ongoing situation in Penfield reflects exactly those kinds of broader systemic issues.

My Thoughts Regarding The Commission On Racial And Structural Equity (RASE) So-Called 

Annual Community Update (April 15th, 2026) Rochester, New York / Monroe County.

To listen to the article, click on the link below. When the article comes up, click on this symbol ⧁ right above the title.

https://medium.com/@howardjeagle/my-thoughts-regarding-the-commission-on-racial-and-structural-equity-rase-so-called-annual-3f7b84f00379

~

Howard Eagle is a longtime educator and local anti-racism advocate, known for his campaigns for the Rochester school board and prolific political and social commentary. Eagle taught social studies in the RCSD for 23 years, before retiring in 2010, and was an adjunct professor in the Department of African American Studies at SUNY Brockport for 19 years before retiring in 2020.