By Bob Hertz
In a June 2021 Acton Forum article, I asked if White-Privilege checklists are a part of Acton. Unfortunately, I have my answer. Yes, a Privilege checklist (see below) was used by Acton management in the one employee “training” session I am aware of. The “training” session apparently was created by a firm called Health Resources in Action and facilitated by another consultant named Community Circle. Diversity, Equity and Inclusive (DEI) Working Group, the forerunner of the DEI Commission and led by David Martin, appears the prime instigator of the “training” session and the primary contact with Community Circle and Health Resources in Action. I have asked the Town to supply corroborating public information, but it is slow in coming – why I am not sure. It would hopefully explain our leaders’ thought process behind the exercise.
What problem is this exercise meant to correct? Acton management has stated, over and over, they do not believe municipal employees, on whole, have a discrimination problem. Is this really the type of “training” we, as a town, want to force onto our employees? Likely it is the style of “training” our DEI cohorts, if given the chance, will utilize. Would you appreciate it forced on you? Worse still, would you want the Critical Race Theory (CRT)-playbook-based classification and indoctrination that follow the checklists? It is not what I want. For these reasons I would not make the DEI Commission a permanent fixture and would not add a DEI administrator, another bureaucratic layer, to accomplish tasks that already should be handled by others on staff.
If allowed, the DEI Commission, and its Chair, will handpick a DEI administrator who will be responsible for diversity “training” – likely more CRT style products. The DEI administrator will have significant input into hires and advancements of Acton staff, and the selection of vendors, while focusing on various discrimination rankings. Make no mistake; the DEI administrator will play a significant role. Costs will needlessly rise – no guaranteed quality. Employees likely will become increasingly frustrated. And for what? I think Acton has made reasonable staff and vendor choices thus far. Do we expect our actions to change the nation? Is CRT indoctrination the only way to be in the “woke” crowd? Will our bullying issues be resolved, or magnified, by such retraining?
We paid consultants at least $7,800 for the one “training” session I am aware of, in which Acton employees were asked to complete the worksheet – a fairly significant amount of money. Was this money well spent? I think not. I cannot see any scenario where this “training” process, and especially the associated worksheet, can produce more-positive-than-negative results, for Acton employees, and for the Town as a whole. Perhaps if I saw the requested documentation, I would find a glimmer of positivity.
The worksheet, rather than being called White-Privilege, was called Privilege Walk (see both pages below). These worksheets are straight out of the CRT playbook – modified slightly to increase the size of the consulting market, obfuscate the CRT label, and most importantly, designed to split groups into segments; calling one segment oppressors or privileged and the other segment oppressed or marginalized. The process then suggests past actions of lineage of the oppressor or privileged individual were bad (my word) – further isolation. CRT further suggests to those who are marginalized that they are of lesser status than their opposites because they did not receive the same privileges from their lineage. Insulting to all, but necessary to set the stage for what proponents would have us believe is a utopia perhaps based in Socialism, or worse, where the “exalted” rule over the “herd”, and all prosper – or so goes the pitch.
We all understand there has been mistreatment of individuals in the United States over past years, and that some of the mistreatment continues today. I would argue a contributing factor of today is the poorly designed and implemented welfare concepts put in place over a number of years by national-level liberals with mixed results – welfare concepts which bring families into crime-riddled cities or desolate locations where schooling and job opportunities are generally poor, two parent families are in the minority, drugs or alcohol are rampant, and worst of all where escape is difficult. We should understand the mistreatment of individuals is not a United States only issue, but is worldwide, with many nations mistreating to a greater extent than us. We should understand that mistreating individuals has been going on since the beginning of mankind. CRT adds nothing to this understanding. In fact, the concept significantly detracts from the discrimination related gains and acceptance of all peoples made in the United States over past years. We should be offering chances for education, for relocation, for the ability to harmonize, and for the opportunity to succeed – not this unwise exercise called CRT.
Bullying in the school environment, alive almost everywhere, including Acton, has been going on since the 50s when I was in compulsory education, and much earlier than that – an unfortunate flaw of mankind. Once again, CRT does nothing to resolve the issue – in fact, splitting individuals into opposing camps, adds yet another target for the bully. With one exception, an AHA housing tenant, I have not seen any reports of prejudice or bullying by Acton employees. I do not believe one case makes a behavioral pattern. I am not sure why the issue was raised at this time, but I firmly believe the Select Board erred in not delaying the remarks until AHA had an opportunity to refute the claims – in public if that was the way it was to be handled. The Chairman had the remarks in advance, and I assume knew the name of the claimant. He should have suggested a less-public forum for disclosure and made a pledge to quickly take whatever actions necessary to come to an amicable resolve. This is why we pay the exorbitant salary to the Chairman. If the issues are as presented and apparently stretched over several years, I am deeply disappointed there was no oversight or disciplinary actions by AHA or the Select Board (funding agent). Such actions are contemptible and should not be tolerated. Unfortunately, the AHA was not given the courtesy of time to react at the meeting where claims were raised. First impressions do matter and are lasting. I hope our Select Board will use better judgement in the future.
That said, I am disappointed the CRT like session(s) happened. Any benefits of such sessions are offset by the negatives of the process. Better tools exist to enlighten our staff on proper treatment of Acton residents and each other. There are many other approaches to diversity and solidarity schooling which I believe much more productive than CRT “training”, or as one apostle suggests CRT “infusion”. Will our DEI associates seek them out or simply push CRT as the “training” of choice? I think the latter.
The governor’s race in Virginia shows that Virginia citizens are fed up with what is going on in the school districts, and elsewhere, and are willing to stand up for what is right. What overwhelmingly should be a blue state has gone red. Someone really has to screw-up for this to happen. McAuliffe did – he bet on the wrong horse, and irritated lots of moms. A big reason for the backlash is Virginia schools teaching CRT while trying to convince parents they do not. Smoke and mirrors. I hope that Acton residents will also show disapproval of CRT like products, addition of the DEI administrator, a permanent DEI Commission, and those in our municipal leadership who are the proponents. Only by standing up will we return to sensible government.
Take a look at the worksheet. See how you fair. Are you in the Privileged or Marginalized camp? More importantly, think how you would feel completing this thing, or something like it, in front of your peers or boss?
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Out of interest have any of the commentators actually attended one of these training sessions? Just curious because there seems to be a whole lot of judgement based on two pieces of paper. Do any of you know the full context or are you just showing your prejudices?
Bill,
Hard to know where to begin. What does it mean to say “One might be that a person may not believe that problems of equity within our diversity really exist”? What is a problem of equity within our diversity ? Is it two people having different incomes ? Different athletic abilities ? Intellectual abilities ? Work ethic ? Levels of honesty, courage, friendliness ? The problem is that equity can’t be defined in a meaningful way (short of the Marxist idea of equal results). And diversity in the CRT world is mainly racial, because they don’t view our individuality as diverse, but it somehow comes into being only when we form various collectives.
This list of privileged and marginalized imagines a population of weaklings who have to be trained by folks with no useful skills, looking to classify people as oppressors or oppressed. What about the privilege of living in America, of being able to start a business, of being able to protest, of being free to be better human beings ?
If there are problems of harassment and bad behavior, we have structures to deal with them. We don’t need to force our Town employees to listen to gender studies majors telling them anything. There are more than 2 reasons to oppose this training. Throwing good money down the drain is a good enough reason to oppose it.
The people who need training are precisely these gender studies majors. They don’t even know how to define their basic terms, have no sense of logic, have a thin skin, and spend their lives searching for oppression. They even found it in “Band-Aids that do not match your skin tone”. These morons never create, build, design, or fix anything. They have the most useless job description ever invented.
Thank you for clearly noting what is wrong with the gender study offered to town employees. A racist will still be a racist after completing a dozen gender sessions.
Bob,
Some of us think there are discriminatory and handicapping elements built into our society that we don’t recognize consciously. To deny that is to call the Earth flat. I read through the exercise and I found it to provide helpful perspective. While I certainly totaled out as a “P”, I also recognized the “M” in my past as a kid. I was physically handicapped for a few years. All in all, it made me stronger. But it also provided me with a big dose of empathy. That’s a word that you might want to reflect on. Just an idea.
I see this sort of process no differently than the corporate training that so many of us experienced (and guided) relative to the experiences of women at work. We were schooled about the sexual biases and abuses that we needed to be aware of. Again, a majority being asked to reflect on their built in behaviors – biases they hardly know they are acting on. I learned how many subtleties were holding back women from equal treatment and how easy it was for my fellow workers to use sexual differences as weapons of ridicule. And I learned how women were not getting a fair shake in terms of pay and promotion. I called it all healthy, thoughtful and focused on true equity. But some men felt they were being “replaced”.
There are two reasons to oppose this sort of “training”. One might be that a person may not believe that problems of equity within our diversity really exist. The other might be that such a person is afraid that CRT stands for something else. Like replacement. The former could benefit from such training and education. The latter was raised to be a P and will always be a P. There can be reasoning and empathy training with the former. Maybe not with the latter.
Just my opinion, but learning how others are treated sounds really mature and can lead to a friendlier more equitable neighborhood and world. After all, what is there to fear? Knowledge is power. The power to help others sounds good to me. It is not a zero sum game. Helping others grow and succeed helps us all.
Good Day Mr. Alstrom:
We seem on separate paths which likely will never quite meet. I have a major problem with bullying and discrimination, as do you. I have stated that fact many times in past correspondence to you and others through the Forum. Most of us have seen bullies in action sometime during our lives. Many of us came from poor backgrounds to a better economic situation than that of our parents and certainly our grandparents – attainable largely because of living in this great nation to which so many want to come.
I agree fully that diversity training played a role in reducing discrimination against women in the workplace. . I suggest there were many other impacts, not the least of which were World War II, educational opportunities, hard work, and the desire to excel. I believe preparation would have been much less effective, however, if it contained the “woke” in-your-face diatribes of Kendi-style CRT. I also believe use of CRT would have bolstered the mindset of the bullies in our midst. Exposing oneself, as is done in typical CRT exercises, supplies additional fodder for bullies to act upon. As recent court trials suggest, discrimination against women is not stamped out in the mind of the bully. Not all of these trials relate to historic actions – some offenses are very current. Bullies need to be dealt with by schools and legal systems, not some useless CRT related DEI exercise.
I have finally received some documents requested from Town Hall and they have shed light on the tenor of the sessions. The slides and content that I have seen look very reasonable and informative. The facilitator requested that attendees complete and bring the Privilege Walk worksheet with them to the session(s). It is not yet clear to me how the worksheets were utilized or who first suggested they be used. If they were simply a tool to prep session attendees, I expect there are more positive ways to prepare the attendees, but am not otherwise concerned. I would not have used the CRT-type format. The questions asked are easily manipulated and add little to the process. They are simply a form of race or class baiting and misdirected blame. How can such labels enhance a discussion of diversity or harmonization of anything?
My issue has not been, and is not now, diversity training. My issue is the CRT or CLT (call it what you will) form of indoctrination in which people are separated, isolated and coerced. Sounds like the bully formula to me. I have given a great deal of thought to “empathy” over my years on earth. It is for that very reason I so dislike the whole CRT philosophy. I do not see much “empathy” in splitting groups into winners and losers – often based on nothing more than inherited race or family wealth, or even if one is right or left handed. How does “empathy” fit into this exercise? I do not see much “empathy” on the part of many of those who currently carry the banner for CRT – look at their speeches and actions. I have never seen “empathy” in blocking the ability of people to better themselves – something liberals have done for years under the guise of welfare. I said, in my Forum piece, we need to provide paths for accomplishment, something I have pointed out many times in the past. I am convinced CRT does not advance that cause, but instead reinforces the old prejudices we are struggling to rid the nation of.
Along with your two reasons for opposition to CRT, I would proffer several others. CRT is a backward step in a gradual improvement of relationships and the lessening of discrimination. CRT has taken on a cult-like style with all its associated negatives – plus a command to agitate and destroy. CRT takes its cue from the Marxist and Socialist playbooks – a revolutionary approach to human relations, quite the opposite from what you are suggesting. Promoters of CRT are not interested in our nation as it stands, but instead want complete transformation from democracy to a collective that they rule. That is not what I want for the country.
I agree wholeheartedly with you that helping others grow and succeed helps us all. Nothing in CRT, however, approaches that lofty goal.
Bob Hertz