A protest is planned outside one of Burlington’s most prominent art galleries on Saturday after a former employee recently alleged that she faced racial discrimination while working there.
The employee, Misoo Bang, said her manager at Frog Hollow Vermont Craft Gallery made racist comments to her on multiple occasions during Bang’s three years working at the shop.
Bang, who is Korean, left her role as assistant manager at Frog Hollow in March after a fatal shooting at multiple Asian spas in Atlanta prompted her to confront the racism she encountered in her own life, she told VTDigger.
She now plans to protest outside the Church Street gallery Saturday, demanding that the manager who allegedly made the racist comments be fired, she said.
In a Sunday social media post and in an interview with VTDigger last month, Bang described several instances during which the manager allegedly made comments about her race or implied that Bang should behave in a way that conformed with stereotypes about Asians.
In one instance, the manager allegedly shared with Bang that the manager’s Halloween costume had been a pregnant “Chinese slut,” and that her boyfriend had dressed as a U.S. soldier.
Another time, when Asian people “wearing traditional clothes and dancing” in a parade passed the shop, the manager allegedly told Bang to “go join your people,” Bang said.
On another occasion, the manager allegedly said that Bang’s “exotic look” led customers to spend more money while shopping at the gallery.
At one point during the Covid-19 pandemic, the manager allegedly asked Bang if she was buying bat meat after Bang mentioned she was visiting an Asian market. Bang, who is not Chinese, said she understood the comment in connection to the discredited belief that Covid-19 originated from people in China consuming infected bats.
In her resignation letter delivered to the board in March, Bang told leaders she had “encountered racism towards myself at Frog Hollow” and expressed concern that the organization did not require employees to participate in inclusivity training. She advocated that instituting such practices would “make workers feel safe.”
Bang did not make her claims public immediately after leaving Frog Hollow because she believed the organization would become more inclusive after watching her walk out, she said.
But after four months, Bang said she did not receive any indication that the board would address her concerns. Bang reached out in August to Rachel Morton, a Frog Hollow board member, to ask what the organization had done to improve its inclusivity.
According to emails that Bang shared with VTDigger, Morton replied: “We take the experiences of Gallery staff and customers seriously, and we thank you for offering your perspective.”
“We are updating our employment policy and are continuing to work on promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace,” Morton’s email continued.
In September, Bang asked for an update, including “specific steps” the company had taken since her resignation. Morton responded that she would get back to Bang after the Frog Hollow board had met the following week.
Beth Danon, a lawyer who’s representing Frog Hollow, said the organization updated its employee handbook. Danon said Morton did not reply to Bang’s September email because she “dropped the ball.”
With no response from Morton, Bang emailed her again Dec. 1, this time going into detail about the examples of racism she says she experienced at Frog Hollow.
In response, Morton indicated that the Dec. 1 email was the first time she had heard the specific examples referenced by Bang. Morton asked to meet with Bang, but Bang declined, saying in a reply email that she didn’t want to talk “after 8 months of waiting and feeling dismissed.”
Ten days later, she shared her claims on social media.
Carol MacDonald, the president of Frog Hollow’s board, said in a statement that the organization plans to update its equal employment and anti-discrimination policies, hire an executive director, and appoint an independent investigator to review the claims made by Bang. Seven Days first reported the gallery’s plans for an investigation Wednesday night.
Beth Danon, a lawyer who represents Frog Hollow, says the investigation is meant to determine the credibility of both Bang and the manager.
To Bang, however, the investigation and the hiring of the executive director are counterproductive.
The executive director position gives too much power to one person at the organization, she said, making it easier for discrimination to be swept under the rug. She also sees hiring the independent investigator as a move meant to protect the manager who allegedly made the racist comments.
“I think they want to minimize everything we’re saying,” Bang said.
The protest — which comes on what will likely be one of the busiest days of the holiday shopping season — will be a silent one, Bang told VTDigger. She plans to hold signs outside of the shop Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. and may be joined by others.
“My goal is to let them know that we are here, and we will fight,” she said. “Hopefully it will impact them.”
