Photo by Lou Varricchio
An open forum about race in Vermont discussed a film about a racist incident in Rutland.
MANCHESTER | A community discussion about race issues in Vermont was held at Burr and Burton Academy (BBA), a private high school located in Manchester, Oct. 18. Panelists included both black and white social-justice activists. The panelists approached the open forum with sensitivity as well as calls for action in towns, businesses and schools across the state.
Panelists included host Jonathan Fine of Move-On Manchester, Rep. Ruqaiyah “Kiah” Morris, D-Bennington 2-2, Tabitha Pohl-Moore of NAACP Rutland, BBA graduate Naomi Johnson, and social-justice and carbon tax activist Theo Talcott, also a BBA graduate.
“We’re not here to have you talked to… We’d like this to be an open conversation about race, no matter what your race is. Speak your mind…Silence is not an option,” said Fine. “…And we don’t want to question the veracity of anyone’s experience in relation to race.”
Rep. Ruqaiyah “Kiah” Morris, D-Bennington 2-2: “Our court system sends more (Bennington County) people of color to prison then any where else in the state… I have a young black son and I have concerns about what this means for our future and for our students…”
“These are really complicated, difficult personal conversations to have,” said Rep. Morris. “They will shake you to your core, they will make you question things you thought you understood… (but) it’s what’s needed for transformative work.”
Morris championed H. 308 (Act 54) in Montpelier creating Vermont’s Racial Disparities in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice System Advisory Panel. The bill, which passed both the House and Senate earlier this year, was signed into law by Gov. Phil Scott in May. The panel’s first report is expected to be completed early in 2018.
“I was the first black woman elected to the Vermont legislature in almost 30 years,” she noted. “This is an important conversation because Bennington County is anecdotally considered to be the most racist county in the entire state. Our court system sends more (Bennington County) people of color to prison then any where else in the state… I have a young black son and I have concerns about what this means for our future and for our students… I want to say that not everything is alright on this beautiful campus or in this beautiful state.”
Pohl-Moore said that she considers herself as both a Vermonter and a professional black woman. “I consider myself a seventh generation Vermonter… I was actually born on a military base in California when my mother was out there in the ’70s… but I grew up on my grandfather’s land here. He died in 2012 in the very house he was born in in 1914.”
Pohl-Moore said that she first connected with panelists Fine and Johnson through NAACP Rutland member Duane Carleton’s documentary film, titled “Divided by Diversity.”
The film, released in 2016, explores racism experienced by five black New York City student athletes attending a Catholic high school in Rutland. The incident divided the community and the film is a sore spot for some local residents.
“It’s a big deal because the events in the film actually took place in Rutland; Duane couldn’t get it shown in Rutland before now… No one wanted to see the racism in this school as well as Burr and Burton where some of the racism against these students took place. It’s how racism looks here in Vermont,” she said.
Pohl-Moore painted a dim picture for celebrating black identity in the state.
“Vermonters of color do not want to be here,” she said. “Some of us stay but a lot of us leave. Education prompted that… I had the typical high school experience but what was missing was any sort of reflection of my racial experience… When I was growing up my brother was the victim of a horrible hate crime. They brought people into our school to talk about it without regard to talk with me about it even though I was there when it happened… There were other experiences, too, like being followed out of the CVS, in the old Rutland mall, by the manager who asked me what were in my pockets—after I purchased something… It was time for me to go, to find myself. Vermont was not my home… Now I am (back) here doing education work. In every system it’s clear how we negate racial identity with kids.”
Members of the audience asked questions and told stories about their own perceptions of race and racism in Vermont. Although the systemic causes of racism were elusive in the discussion, ideas were offered about how to teach race at home and especially in local schools.
“We’re born in this skin, so it’s ok to talk about race as early as you can,” said Pohl-Moore.
