Declaration of Inclusion

By Keith Whitcomb
THE RUTLAND HERALD
CLARENDON, Vt. — The town has adopted a declaration of inclusion, one that doesn’t name any specific group.

The board voted 4-0 Monday to adopt the following statement:

“The Town of Clarendon formally condemns discrimination in all of its forms and welcomes all people, who want to live and work and add richness to our town. Clarendon calls upon all residents to denounce prejudice, to openly acknowledge and address our own implicit bias and welcome and celebrate all people and continue to work together to ensure every individual can live freely, equitably and express their opinions.”

Selectman Robert Congdon wasn’t in attendance.

This makes Clarendon the 50th town in the state to adopt such a declaration.

In March, a group of citizens brought a draft inclusion statement to the board for consideration. The effort to have towns sign these declarations was started by Bob Harnish and Al Wakefield, Rutland area residents who were spurred by the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. The draft they proposed listed many historically marginalized groups.

Whether to list the groups or not, and what the word “all” really means in practice was the center of the debate in Clarendon.

In late April, the board decided to appoint an ad hoc committee to draft an inclusion statement for the board to consider. It appointed the committee in May. It consisted of six citizens and Selectmen Arthur Menard and Bob Bixby.

Clarendon resident, John McKenna, who was on the committee, said Thursday that the committee met May 17 but could not reach a consensus on a draft declaration. He said the meeting was polite, well-run, heated at times, and followed a similar track as to what’s been talked about at board meetings.

“When the framers of the Constitution wrote ‘all men are created equal’ they didn’t really mean ‘all,’ back then, and it has never meant ‘all’ throughout the history of the United States, even up until now,” he said. “But there was an attempt at explaining why our group felt historically marginalized groups needed to be mentioned and needed to be spelled out.”

The counter argument was always, according to McKenna, that “all” includes those historically marginalized groups.

The ad hoc committee sent the board four declarations of inclusion. The one it ultimately adopted was the one the board drafted itself after being asked to do so in April.

“I was concerned about actually listing groups or populations for fear that we’d leave somebody out,” said Menard on Monday. “I had suggested at the committee meeting that flatlanders and bald people were discriminated against and left-out groups. And I was told that that’s not genuine, it was mocking and that we were doing … and these individuals should not be included unless they can prove they are historically and financially and systemically marginalized. I thought that if an individual can not prove they fall under that category, are we saying it’s acceptable to discriminate against these people?”

He said people with tattoos, body piercings, non-traditional hair colors and vegetarians shouldn’t be left out.

“Their discrimination should not be considered silliness or any less acceptable than discrimination for the historically marginalized populations,” said Menard. “So I’d like to make a motion that the board adopt and sign the inclusion statement that (Klopchin) and I composed, with the understanding that the words ‘all people’ stands for ‘everybody.’”

McKenna said the group that brought the declaration forward decided that having a declaration was important even though the wording wasn’t what they thought it should be. The next step is to make sure town policies, procedures, and rules are in line with the declaration’s spirit.

keith.whitcomb @rutlandherald.com