The Why is Newtown So White? website has been created by residents and friends of Newtown who want to better understand the racial history of the town. We know that 68% of Connecticut residents identify as White and 32% identify as Black, Native American and other races. (We use the term race as a culturally constructed idea, not one that has any basis in science.) In Newtown, 89% identify as White. Our main question is why don’t more people who don’t identify as White live in town? What happened in the past in Newtown that led to this? What laws affected this? What customs and behaviors led to this? How did our local institutions contribute to this? And what state and national events have played into this too? Why does it continue?
Racism has been a defining force in the United States for centuries, yet its causes and effects are often unrecognized by the White population. We don’t learn much about it in history classes. We wipe racists events from public memory. We disappear the history of people who are not considered White. The contributors to this website refuse to do that any longer. We want to understand and remember. We want to see and tell the truth about the past. That way we can work more effectively toward an anti-racist future where people are not judged and treated differently because of their perceived race.
We will share what we learn as we learn it. If we find that something we have written is not correct, we will change it. As our knowledge grows, we will augment what we have written. Some of the entries come from reading published research. Some comes from first-hand experience. We would like to do more archival research once pandemic constraints are lifted.
We welcome others to join us. If you have an experience you would like to share, curiosity about a topic you would like to research, or ideas of where we can look for more information, please contact us here.
Racism has been a defining force in the United States for centuries, yet its causes and effects are often unrecognized by the White population. We don’t learn much about it in history classes. We wipe racists events from public memory. We disappear the history of people who are not considered White. The contributors to this website refuse to do that any longer. We want to understand and remember. We want to see and tell the truth about the past. That way we can work more effectively toward an anti-racist future where people are not judged and treated differently because of their perceived race.
We will share what we learn as we learn it. If we find that something we have written is not correct, we will change it. As our knowledge grows, we will augment what we have written. Some of the entries come from reading published research. Some comes from first-hand experience. We would like to do more archival research once pandemic constraints are lifted.
We welcome others to join us. If you have an experience you would like to share, curiosity about a topic you would like to research, or ideas of where we can look for more information, please contact us here.
What We Have Learned
Pootatucks/Schaghticokes lived here, and still do
Newtown was part of the slave economy
Immigrants yes, Blacks no
Segregation 20th (and 21st) century style
What do we do now?
- A Brief History of the Golden Hill Paugussetts - Native Americans remained in the area after White settlement. Read more.
- Changing the Indian Mascot - The process of changing the high school mascot was long and contentious. Read more.
- Trudy Lamb Richmond, of the Schaghticoke Nation, remembers growing up in Newtown. Read more.
Newtown was part of the slave economy
- Slavery in Newtown - There were slaves in Newtown throughout the Colonial Period and many of the prominent families were slaveowners. Read more.
Immigrants yes, Blacks no
- 19th Century Anti-Black Sentiment - Free Blacks were on the lowest rung of society and it was hard for them to make a living. Read more.
- Census Data on the Black Population in Newtown - As the Black population in Connecticut increased, Newtown's stayed flat. Read more.
- Newtown's Jewish Farmers - Jews escaping pogroms in Europe settled in Newtown with the help of several aid societies.
- Sandy Hook industry
- Fairfield Hills Hospital - Opportunity Denied - The diverse mini-United Nations lived apart from the town. Read more.
- Black chaplain roughed up and arrested by Fairfield Hills police - Walking on Queen Street was the provocation. Read more.
Segregation 20th (and 21st) century style
- How Zoning Got its Start in Newtown - Zoning took off in the 1950s and dictated where and how houses could be built. Read more.
- Nicer in Newtown - How white people often unconsciously measure danger and safety along a continuum of whiteness to blackness. Read more.
- HIghways and Corporations Made it Whiter - The building of highways attracted corporate relocations but displaced lower-income residents. Read more.
- How Zoning Laws Can Limit the Diversity of Residents - Favoring single-family homes with large yards limited who could move in. Read more.
- How Real Estate Agents Contribute to Segregation - In many cases in Connecticut, Black and Latino home seekers are not treated the same as White home seekers.
- How Local Government Kept New Canaan and Darien White - How the economic inequity between cities and suburbs “is not random or natural. Rather, it is determined by government.” Read more.
What do we do now?
- The Board of Education Engages with Issues of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - The board deliberates and the public speaks. Watch the videos and read the transcripts.
- What is One Action that the Newtown Community can Take? - Town leaders talk about what their organizations can do. Watch the video.
- White Towns, White Schools - Connecticut has both come a long way and has a long way to go to provide equal educational opportunities for all its children. Read more.
- Newtown is Whiter Than the Census Says - The inmates at Garner Correctional Facility, who are predominately Black and Latino, are counted in Newtown. Read more.
- Homeschooling as an Act of Resistance - Providing a culturally responsive education to develop strong, self-assured children. Read more.
- Police Alert puts Residents of Color at Risk - Starting an alert with "be on the lookout for three black individuals" puts all people of color in harm's way. Read more.