BENNINGTON — After tracking the actions of a Mount Anthony Union School Board member on Facebook, a group of residents — and now the school board chair — have asked him to resign.
Ed Letourneau, serving his third term and seventh year on the board, has posted comments on his personal Facebook account that many are calling racist.
“The blacks with both parents in the family are essentially equal to their peers of other colors,” he wrote in one comment. “Where the blacks are unequal are the single mothers. 70% of their births are out of wedlock.”
Another comment reads: “No black is killed for being black. They are sometimes killed for attacking police. Now go play stupid somewhere else.”
Another: “Considering all the rioting and looting they are doing, many no longer think THOSE black lives matter.”
Those who reviewed Letourneau’s comments said the most egregious was posted in response to a photo of a white person wearing a mask and gloves while standing in the ocean. “Must be a liberal,” he wrote. “Where’s the eugenics movement when we need it.”
Letourneau told VTDigger he regretted the comment that referred to eugenics.
“There are no perfect people in this world, and everybody, at every time, has probably made a stupid comment,” he said.
Shawn Pratt, an advocate for racial justice in Bennington, sees a pattern in Letourneau’s behavior. Pratt ran against Letourneau for the school board in March 2019, and said he raised concerns about Letourneau then. In addition to Letourneau’s social media comments, he’s frustrated that Bennington residents have elected Letourneau to the board three times.
“Now everybody’s upset about it?” he said. “The narrative is now: Here come the white people to come save the day, to swoop in and save everybody. But I said this a long time ago.”
Within hours of receiving the complaint about Letourneau’s posts on Friday, school board president Tim Holbrook called Letourneau and asked him to resign.
“We certainly don’t like to see comments like that, particularly by board members, or anybody else for that matter, being made,” Holbrook said. “It destroys the confidence that the public has in the institution that we all support.”
Letourneau has not yet told Holbrook what he’ll do.
“I told him I’d think about it,” Letourneau said. “I haven’t made a decision.”
Letourneau said in a statement that the First Amendment grants him the right to free speech, regardless of whether he’s a school board member.
“I also gave up four years of my life in uniform to protect these rights. I suspect the people complaining about my use of them never served the nation for a day,” his statement reads. “My service helped protect their right to whine about my opinions. Anyone who doesn’t like it has the right to ignore me as they wish. I also have not stated anything related to schools. Just my personal thoughts on events in society, which I have every right to.”
As the board chair, Holbrook said he doesn’t think he has the authority to terminate an elected official if Letourneau doesn’t resign voluntarily.
Mary Gerisch, a leader of local advocacy group Rights & Democracy, wrote the complaint to Holbrook when she saw the posts. She said she’ll call for the board to hold a special meeting should Letourneau decide to remain in office, and she believes other town residents would join her in that request.
“I think probably for his sake, and everybody else’s,” she said, “the best thing would be for him to just resign.”
Gerisch said she’s grateful for the swift action Holbrook took, and said the fact that Letourneau has served on the board for seven years is an example of systemic racism in Bennington.
“I was particularly appreciative, not for myself, but for the kids, that he responded so quickly on this, and took what I consider to be decisive action,” she said.
Kristi Pepoon, a Bennington resident, said she had responded to some of Letourneau’s comments on Facebook, but he blocked her. Then, over a period of months, she used her husband’s account to take screenshots of inappropriate comments he’d made. After posting those comments on Friday, Pepoon said she’s received strong support from the community.
“This is a person who has in his control the ability to participate in decision-making and policies, as well as disciplinary issues that go before the board,” she said. “With his blatant bias out there, I don’t know how any children that are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) could be treated fairly by him.”
David and Laura Payne, who are Pownal residents but whose kids went through the Bennington school system, have participated in the movement to oust Letourneau. David, who identifies as Black, said Letourneau’s comments felt personal.
“It really upsets me that this situation would be allowed to go on,” David said. “It’s offensive.”
Laura spoke about Shawn Pratt’s efforts to expose Letourneau sooner, and regrets that the issue came to light only recently in an effort organized mostly by white people.
“Vermont seems like a really progressive state in a lot of ways. I grew up here. I’ve been here most of my life. Quite frankly, I’m guilty of thinking everything’s OK,” she said, then her voice broke. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s better late than never.”
