Brattleboro holds town meeting on racism
Vermont Public Radio reports that about 200 Brattleboro residents including teachers, police officers, community leaders and many members of the biracial community "turned out for a community forum on racism in Brattleboro, where the discovery of a racist group and the arrest of a teenager on hate crime charges has shaken people up." The event was designed to "gauge community sentiment on how the recent incidents had affected people, and what should be done about racism in the community." Attendees said "they were relieved to see the large turnout of support. But others said talking to like-minded people would not solve the problem."
VCF Staff
Students Fight Racism with Technology
The Rutland Herald reports that high schools students in Brattleboro are "using technology to keep a recent racist incident from igniting further problems." Last week the students "launched a text-messaging campaign to keep fellow students informed, and prevent misinformation and rumor from boiling over into violence." According to Curtiss Reed Jr., the executive director of ALANA, a local civil rights organization, and chairman of the Vermont State Advisory Committee on Civil Rights, "The kids are telling each other 'avoid, ignore, resist, [and] don't respond."
The campaign comes in response to recent racist incidents in Brattleboro, "which included the formation of an informal student club, whose very name includes a threat of violence and a racial epithet. Last week, a 17-year-old Guilford student was placed on house arrest after he was charged with two hate crimes, including aggravated stalking with a deadly weapon and disorderly conduct, as well as two other alleged crimes." In addition, the Vernon Police are "investigating several racist signs left in town.