[Massplanners] Resources / Successful Examples on Addressing Microaggressions/Racist Language in Public Meetings

[Maureen Pollock]

Hi Corrin,

I am sorry to hear about your recent experience. I am glad that you are sharing this with the massplanners listserve.

The Montague Planning Department has started to introduce group agreements at the beginning of all community engagement events. I think group agreements could easily apply to boards/committees.

Group agreements are rules, intentions, or guidelines for behavior and interaction that are communally formulated and agreed upon. They are a useful tool for fostering participation, inclusivity, and habits of explicit consent and accountability.

MAPC offers great guidelines on this. I recommend checking them out via this link: www.mapc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/MAPC_Group-Agreements-Guide_Final_Update.pdf<http://www.mapc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/MAPC_Group-Agreements-Guide_Final_Update.pdf>

I hope this helps!

Sincerely,

Maureen

Maureen Pollock (she/her/hers)
Town Planner
Town of Montague
1 Avenue A
Montague, MA 01376
Phone (413) 863-3200 x 112
Web www.montague-ma.gov/planning <http://www.montague-ma.gov/planning>
Email Maureenp at montague-ma.gov<mailto:Maureenp at montague-ma.gov>

From: MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org> On Behalf Of Corrin Meise-Munns via MassPlanners
Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2023 10:45 AM
To: Jeff Lacy <ruralplanningassociates at crocker.com>
Cc: massplanners at masscptc.org
Subject: Re: [Massplanners] Resources / Successful Examples on Addressing Microaggressions/Racist Language in Public Meetings

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for your thoughts. To clarify, I meant the term "script" to mean something that the Chair reads verbatim at the start of each meeting, which would more set an intention for respectful dialogue than dictate the actual words people should use. It would not be a script as in a menu of words that members were allowed to use.

For clarity, because it seems a lot of people are thinking he used the term "oriental" -- the term that the person used was "yellow", which I did Google frantically during the meeting and found that it is in fact considered a slur by many Asian-American authors writing on the subject. Is it the same as using the N word or the C word (? -- but don't want to get into typing all of these words!)? Maybe not, but I also don't think that's for me to decide as a white person. Something especially bothers me about this instance, and why I don't want to leave it to others to correct, is that we have two youth liaisons on this committee, one of whom is Asian-American and the other of whom is the only other POC on the Committee. This is their first time participating in an official public body, and they both look to established leadership for guidance on how to act and participate. While it may be that older generations grew up with this word being part of acceptable terminology, this younger generation certainly knows that this word is unacceptable and offensive and I can't help but feel that insofar as neither I nor the Chair addressed it in the moment, that we have failed them and my concern is that they may feel uncared for or even unprotected in a system which already doesn't make itself accessible to people of their age.

On Wed, Mar 29, 2023 at 10:34 AM Jeff Lacy <ruralplanningassociates at crocker.com<mailto:ruralplanningassociates at crocker.com>> wrote:
Corrin:

Being careful not to also put my foot in mouth, was what he said not a ever a slur, but rather an outdated term? I’m thinking something like, “oriental.” I’ve been taken to task for this offense, and yet a Chinese-owned restaurant in Amherst recently opened as “Oriental Flavor.”

Moreover, if clearly not intended as a slur, in fact positive, I think it’s best to leave this person’s vocabulary alone. If someone individually wishes to take it up with the person - fine.

I also think the “script” about how people must choose their words at meetings sounds like an overreach, too controlling, approaching censorship.

Jeff Lacy
Rural Planning Associates
(413) 230-9693
Sent from my iPhone


On Mar 29, 2023, at 9:05 AM, Corrin Meise-Munns via MassPlanners <massplanners at masscptc.org<mailto:massplanners at masscptc.org>> wrote:

Hello all,

There was an incident at a public meeting I was staffing earlier this week where a Committee member used a (totally surprising, archaic, uncommon) racial slur to refer to residents of Asian descent. This person clearly did not understand that the term he used is offensive, and he was actually trying to make a positive point about how he is glad to see kids of all skin colors playing together at recess.

Both the Chair and I were taken aback and the matter went unaddressed during the remainder of the conversation. We are now trying to strategize on two actions: 1. to send an email to the whole Committee acknowledging the event, and addressing it directly while trying not to shame the Committee member; and 2. develop a script to be read and agreed to at the start of each meeting that would set a standard for the type of language Committee members should use to refer to people, groups, ethnicities, etc. based on respect and inclusivity. (I am aware of the recent SJC decision re: the Southboro civility case.) No members of the public were in attendance so I don't personally feel that this one particular event needs to be addressed in a public venue.

Do you have any resources or examples you could share about how you have addressed events like this before? I would be interested in seeing anything related to either 1 or 2 -- and I am sure this information would help a few other communities out there as well! By the way -- we are in the process of setting up our inaugural DEI Committee (advisory to the Select Board), so while I hope that that body will have resources to share in the future, they have not yet formed. We are also kicking off an internal DEI strategic planning process this spring.

Corrin

--
Corrin Meise-Munns (she/her)
Assistant Town Manager / Director of Planning & Community Development
Town of Longmeadow, MA
(413) 565-4110
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--
Corrin Meise-Munns (she/her)
Assistant Town Manager / Director of Planning & Community Development
Town of Longmeadow, MA
(413) 565-4110
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