ARC’S STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO BOB CHIARADIO’S FALSE ACCUSATIONS
As members of the Westerly Anti-Racism Coalition Steering Committee, we take pride in our efforts to make space for connections and conversations within this community we call home. We have built a strong core of Westerly residents that love our town and care deeply about its people and future. Westerly ARC has been instrumental in leading like-minded citizens of Westerly to help:
We generally do not take time to respond to hateful language and false accusations, however, given the continued unfounded accusations about open meeting violations, the false characterization of our three pillars, and the direct personal attacks on three persons of color connected to ARC, we feel compelled to set the record straight and share the truth. After weekly protests beginning in May of 2020 continued on the steps of the post office, several regular attendees decided we wanted to do more to advocate for positive change within our town. A few of us began having regular conversations about our experiences in Westerly and wanted to share our thoughts and stories with leaders in our community. We decided to make space for two different virtual gatherings and invited local community leaders from the Police/Law Enforcement., Clergy, Library, School Committee, Town Council, Chamber of Commerce, Warm Center, and Johnny Cake Center. The two gatherings were held On December 16, 2020 and January 7, 2021. At these gatherings, ARC members shared their thoughts and personal experiences about systemic racism and what it means for a community like ours. We made space for an open and thoughtful conversation about the opportunities and challenges in front of us. Those who joined shared their thoughtful, sincere, and insightful stories. We were encouraged to receive positive feedback from many who attended. Following the first meeting there was a question from an attendee about the possibility of a violation of the Open Meetings Act. We did our research and shared the information that we are not a public body and therefore the RI Open Meeting Act (RI General Laws 42-46-2 et. al) is not applicable to us. In addition, since there was no convening of a public body or quorum of participants discussing their organization’s business and no voting took place, these gatherings were not illegal meetings. While the focus of the accusations is on ARC’s role in these gatherings, if questions remain about elected officials who attended these gatherings, those questions should be directed to those officials. As for ARC’s pillars, there are three not four and none of them include critical race theory. Our pillars are to Educate, Empower and Embrace. We also never mention CRT in our mission statement and it has never been part of our goals and objectives. You can read more about ARC on our website, westerlyarc.weebly.com. When we see and hear the personal attacks of hate and intimidation from individuals directed only toward the three persons of color on ARC’s steering committee, we no longer can doubt their racist motives, the harm they want to inflict to these individuals, and the harm and division they want to inflict on our community. In this decade fraught with difficulties, but filled with possibilities, it is clear now is the time to take courage in hand and unite to stop this hate, fear and division and allow our community to bring forth the best in each other. Westerly ARC 4 November 2022 Comments are closed.
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