This commentary is by Rev. Dr. Arnold Isidore Thomas, pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Jericho and moderator of the Racism in America Forum.
The recent resignation of Tyeastia Green as Burlington’s director of racial equity, inclusion and belonging has infuriated not only BIPOC residents of the Queen City but the rest of the state as well.
Green came to Vermont from Minnesota amid a wave of optimism about improving race relations. With her support, and the advocacy of the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance, Burlington declared racism a public health emergency, and funds were being directed to address the systemic causes of the crisis with Green at the helm to tackle not only racism but all manner of discrimination and bigotry.
Black and brown residents throughout the state hoped that Burlington, having the highest population of BIPOC Vermonters, would set the momentum by creating progressive action in dismantling barriers of discrimination that other municipalities might follow. However, the lingering legacies of marginalized Vermonters have cautioned us against getting our hopes up too high in a state overwhelmingly dominated by whites, many of whom still refuse to acknowledge the systemic nature of white privilege and racism.
It is from this sector of ignorance that the greatest resistance to progress occurs placing pressure on politicians to slow down or stop this progress entirely.
The mayor’s office, to which Green reported, has succumbed to this pressure and, by so doing, has become part of the crisis. Despite the fact that, in less than two years, Green built her department from one (herself) to a team of 15 highly-qualified staff members; developed a racial equity toolkit used in every department of the city, from the early stages of budgeting, policy and program development and practices to implementation; despite the fact that she created and implemented a supplier diversity program, antiracism training curriculum for all city employees, and a hiring, retention and promotion policy; despite the fact that she established a Reparations Task Force and issued recovery grants to fund BIPOC small businesses; despite all this, the mayor’s office never fully embraced her efforts and, in some cases, undermined them.
This letter is a tribute to Tyeastia Green, a frontline hero in the war against systemic racism in our state. She joins the ranks of Kiah Morris and Tabitha Pohl-Moore, who have exposed the repulsive truth that Vermont is reluctant to endorse the cause of rooting out racism, especially when that cause is championed by Black women.
She will return to her home state of Minnesota to accept the position of executive director of race and equity for Minneapolis. Clearly, that city’s gain is Burlington’s grossly negligent loss.
It is my hope that the mayor of Burlington will not have the final say regarding how the office of Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging will be shaped and directed, but that Black and brown residents of Burlington will weigh in with the city council on insisting that the work of this office be monitored and evaluated by a separate city commission. Such a change would in no way diminish the authority of this office but enhance its scope and influence.
BIPOC Americans have long suffered and endured broken promises to their vision of an extravagantly welcoming nation when white politicians had the final say on its outcome.
If racism is a public health emergency, then the patients most infected by the disease should not have the last word concerning its treatment and cure.
