Press Release

‘Hate-free forum’ March 13 in St. Albans

The United States Attorney’s Office, the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, and the Rutland Area NAACP will be co-hosting a Hate-Free Vermont Forum in St. Albans on March 13, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

This forum will be the third held in an ongoing series; last year, Hate-Free Vermont Forums took place in Rutland and Bennington.

“The Forum aims to bring policymakers, stakeholders, and community members together for productive and difficult conversations that will work to reduce animus, discord, and misunderstandings,” said co-facilitator Etan Nasreddin-Longo. “Many community members have told us they do not feel comfortable reporting bias incidents to the police or feel that is not an effective option. What additional options for reporting and addressing harm and conflict already exist in your community, and what new or improved options would you like to see?”

Participants are welcome to share what they want their government officials to know about their experiences, and to ask questions of their government officials about bias and discrimination.

When: Monday, March 13, 5:30pm-7:30pm
Where: The Forum will be hosted in person and remotely.
•    Physical location: Bellows Free Academy – Cafeteria, 71 South Main Street, St. Albans, VT 05478
•    Remote registration link: https://bit.ly/HateFreeFranklinCo 
•    In-person registration link (optional): https://forms.gle/ofP9yx5vpmN2dbqT7 
Who: All are welcome.

For physical attendance, masks are requested. Registration is required for remote attendance.

Categories: Press Release

5 replies »

  1. So this is a forum for victims of poor treatment by government official to bring their complaints forward to those who have intrudes into their “pursuit of happiness”? Is that about it? Well YessityYesYes Librarians and conservatives take notice. Though the agenda is likely to be how to make government do it better, perhaps they’ll entertain “government should just stop” ideas. Wouldn’t that be refreshing?

  2. Just some personal observations open to discussion: My town government has listened repeatedly to complaints from a select group of people about this type of issue, none of which are within the selectboards’ authority to address. For example, complaining about public school student’s perceived bias etc. would be better addressed by parents, the school board, or school counselor. Mental health issues would be better served by clinicians licensed and qualified in the particular area of the complaint. The board lists services available in town, but it seems it’s more about attention getting and hand holding rather than an honest desire to take personal responsibility to find help from the appropriate source. Apparently, there is a broken link in the youth maturation process and it seems to be predominant in the generation that went through high school in the 1990’s and early to mid 2000’s ….and continuing. Seem like these forums serve more as a coddling function and generally reinforce the negativity and pervasive narcissism.

  3. When I was a child, I was bullied at school. My grandfather told me the next time it happens, tell them “it takes a bigger foundation to hold up a church than it does an outhouse.” I did so (using the word sh**house rather than outhouse.) I, along with the bullying girls, were quickly escorted off the playground and into a round-table conference with the teacher. The conflict was resolved and the bullying stopped. Lesson learned and I never forgot what my grandfather taught me or how the teacher handled it. Today, we have adults who are unable to handle conflict of any sort. Adults who fold up like lawn chairs into emotional puddles of self-induced defeat. They either rage or fall to pieces. Perhaps they need Dale Carnagie courses or lessons in self-advocacy, building self-confidence and resilience. The last thing society needs is a politcally weaponized government and grifter non-profits manufacturing a society of victims. They are doing it on purpose to create a submissive populace to control and manipulate. These forums are nothing more than sorcery and mind-control tactics.

  4. Turns out a lot of us were right. Early on I said that masks were an easy thing to do that might help, but it soon became apparent that they don’t. Much to the hate of Vermont’s noble libbies, I stopped wearing them. In fact, with the Foegen effect, they can make individual cases worse by increasing your viral uptake. But anyway, Omicron is as bad as a mild flu now, folks. Big new study discussed on Dr. John Campbell’s Youtube channel shows conclusively, no prevention of infection occurred with all those masks in landfills, parking lots, and the ocean. It’s time to give up the fear, folks. I’m honestly in shock when I see that three years later… people are still masking in public. It’s almost like there’s some kind of socio-political identity virtue signals going on. Either that, or at this point, propaganda induced mental illness.

    • S.Lowry,
      “It’s almost like there’s some kind of socio-political identity virtue signals going on. Either that, or at this point, propaganda induced mental illness.”
      I vote the latter.

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