A week that included the Herald editorial “Good for all,” about Vermont’s progress toward diversity, equity and inclusion, and Gov. Scott’s bills to protect medication abortion and gender-affirming rights, was almost marred by the bad and the ugly.
The dehumanizing comment by smug House Rep. Art Peterson, R-Clarendon, against the drag performer Justin Marsh, and a letter by an equally smug Herald reader complaining about woke culture, were the epitome of bad and ugly behavior.
These smug individuals obviously prefer Vermont remains homogenous and biased. But if it does, then Vermont itself — along with its intellectual capacities and its economy — will become a stagnant wasteland.
If that happens, then those who are weary of the continual onslaught of egregious slurs will go back to “from away” and “not from here” — just two of the bias-laden clichés used to marginalize Vermonters who, among other distinctions, were not born here.
They will choose places where their gender expression, preferred pronouns, birthplace, ethnicity, religion and professional names are respected, not condemned.
They will choose places where a male nonprofit CEO wouldn’t dare use — let alone, in a business meeting — the term “bimbo” or “cougar” when describing high-net worth women he hopes to cultivate for essential funding.
They will choose places where they needn’t constantly repeat the correct spelling or pronunciation of their name. They will choose places where they won’t continually be frustrated that a reasonable request to include a woman’s family name in correspondence, because it’s her full professional name, results in her being labeled “touchy” or “sensitive.” They will go where their decision to withdraw from a pro bono consulting engagement will not be met with vitriolic emails and drunken texts sent late at night.
All of these are incidents Vermonters, including myself, have dealt with during the past decade. Once such incidents are online, or in print, or on video, or recorded during a business meeting, they’re hard to expunge.
We now have an influx of new residents to Vermont, seeking community, collaboration and camaraderie. Many are young professionals, moving here from Oregon, Colorado, Illinois, Ohio, New Jersey and New York.
At a recent event hosted by the Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region, these newcomers saw Rutland at its best. One, hoisting a utility bag labeled “High Voltage,” took copious notes on locals’ advice regarding vintage shops and why the Paramount lip-synching event was not to be missed. “High Voltage” had landed here only a few days before, but already they were feeling at home.
Another newcomer was thrilled with their dream house on Bellevue Avenue, at a price they could afford. Yet another informed the group that a Fair Haven restaurant has “the most amazing chocolate chip pancakes in the world.”
In a less-welcoming environment, however, what might these newcomers experience? Vermonters who persist in flinging such hackneyed clichés as “flatlander,” “city folk” and “down-country” at them? Or, yet another op-ed complaining about the vibrant murals created by diverse artists?
If you’re the neighbor of a new resident, imagine how you’d feel if you were subjected to epithets crude people still use to describe rural folks. If you’re the leader of a business or nonprofit here, surely, you’d do whatever you could to discourage such biased behavior among your employees.
To be sure, I have my own regrets for when my reptilian brain (along with its expletives) becomes louder than my more rational self. Absent the disciplinary action of the nuns at the high school I attended — i.e., open mouth, bite soap, repeat — I’m not claiming to be different than any other adult who behaves disrespectfully on a bad day.
And therein lies the crux of the issue. Since Representative Peterson’s bio emphasizes his Catholic faith, was his vicious condemnation of Justin Marsh a momentary aberration? In a similar vein, did the “wokeism” letter-writer simply forget to mention the deity that granted him the absolute authority to scold women who manage their own health care?
Dazzling declarations and profound proclamations about diversity, equity and inclusion are indeed welcome and good. But when even Vermont’s elected officials spew venom at innocent people, we need to do more than just scratch our heads in disbelief.
We all need to feel in our bones what it’s like to be denigrated and diminished, what it’s like to be commanded and controlled against our will, what it’s like to have someone else shove at us their egocentric notions of gender, faith, morality and fairness.
If we truly believe Vermont can be good for all, then we all should expect much more than this. More than this, we all deserve.
Liz DiMarco Weinmann lives in Rutland.
