Racist abuse was hurled at toddler lawmaker in Park Slope Park, she says

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“Racism is violent and pervasive,” Assemblyman Phara Souffrant Forrest tweeted of a nasty encounter she said took place at Park Slope.

April 5, 2023 3:35 p.m. EDT | Updated April 5, 2023 3:50 PM EDT

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — The toddler son of a black lawmaker was racially abused by two young white children at a park in Park Slope, she said.

On Tuesday night, Assemblyman Phara Souffrant Forrest posted a tweet that recounted her 22-month-old son’s break-in at JJ Byrne Playground on Fifth Avenue and Fourth Street.

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Two white boys called out Souffrant Forrest’s son in words Patch won’t reprint, but seemed to refer to him as the “only chocolatier in the park,” she said.

“It wasn’t in TN, AL, GA or even PA,” she wrote. “It was in Park Slope, BK.”

“Racism is violent and pervasive.”

Suffering Forrest, in response to his tweet, said the two boys laughed, pointed and shouted at his little son near the Old Stone House. She wrote that her son repeated a word he apparently heard from the two boys.

“They had wicked faces,” she wrote.

“The other black nannies understood and called the two boys (aged 5) black nannies and the boys ended up apologizing. But after only a lot of pressure from witnesses.”

Suffering Forrest and his representatives did not respond to Patch’s requests for comment.

Suffering Forrest lives in Crown Heights, where she previously worked as a nurse and gained political prominence as a tenant organizer. A Democrat and socialist, she was first elected to the Assembly in 2020 and represents District 57, which covers Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and parts of Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy.

Park Slope is well known as a bastion of progressive politics, but isn’t necessarily the most diverse neighborhood. About 67% of its population is white and 6.4% is black, according to a city analysis of census data.

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