An Orchard Park woman is responding to the recent expletive President Trump used to describe African nations. WBFO's senior reporter Eileen Buckley says eight years ago she adopted her son from Haiti.
"His comments were horrible. I don't think there's any other way around that,” remarked Erin Marshall.
We first introduced Marshall to our audience eight years ago. It was in 2010, in the midst of a devastating earthquake that hit Haiti. She had traveled there to complete the adoption process of a young, Haitian boy.
Geoffrey was only three at the time. Now as Marshall and her son reflect on the eight year adoption anniversary, Trump's hateful words bring hit home.
“It was a very difficult conversation to have with my 11-year-old son. To tell him the comments because I wanted him to hear it from me because I wanted him to hear it from me and not someone from school or on the news, but to say to him our current president doesn't like people of color,” Marshall explained.
Marshall and her family worked hard to help Geoffrey adjust to life in American. He now attends Orchard Park Middle School. Marshall told us she's thought a lot about what she would say to Trump if given a chance.
"I think about the international adoption, there's sort of a motto in the community, ‘love knows no borders’ and I just think about what is the strongest thing that we have in the word – all of us as human beings and that is love. His motto is America first, which I understand that in a way, but we are all members of a community of the world and we can't turn our backs on everybody else,” Marshall remarked.
Marshall says as a white mother, she’s always worried about her son facing prejudice remarks.
“I’ve had very, very few experiences and he’s in middle school now and he’s had a few instances that I’ve tried to prepare him for and talk to him about. They’re starting to creep in a little more and now, in my mind, I think about it all the time, every single day. It has changed my perception of the world and how I try to help Geoffrey through, but I have to say, Buffalo is the ‘City of Good Neighbors’ and it has lived up to its name,” said Marshall.
Marshall said it’s important to fight back by speaking out against racist remarks, but she stresses to her son Geoffrey to always be a “good citizen.”
“For me, as a white mother of a child of color – to tell him that he has an added burden to be a good citizen because there are people in the world who judge him on the color of his skin and it’s not fair – it’s certainly not fair, but it’s true – it’s a reality,” declared Marshall.
