×

Town of Keene officials condemn racism

KEENE — The Keene Town Council recently took a symbolic stand against racism.

In a resolution adopted on Aug. 11, the council resolved to “actively and swiftly confront” racist acts in the community. The council committed to having at least one town councilor take training provided by the Adirondack Diversity Initiative, and committed to working with a volunteer-run diversity and inclusion committee tasked with reviewing the town’s policies.

The council also condemned racist graffiti found in Saranac Lake and Bloomingdale last month — though the communities’ names were later removed from the resolution and a more general “in neighboring communities” was inserted.

The vote was 3-0. Councilors David Deyo and Bob Biesemeyer abstained.

Biesemeyer said he’s concerned the resolution will do more harm than good and that he was concerned about backlash, considering some residents may feel adopting the resolution is an overreaction. Deyo said he wanted more time to refine the resolution.

The measure was introduced and written by Councilor Teresa Cheetham-Palen, with guidance from the Adirondack Diversity Initiative.

“Two meetings ago, our town supervisor (Joe Pete Wilson Jr.) had mentioned that with the issues that were happening around us, it was important for us to speak out and make a statement,” Cheetham-Palen said. “We felt we wanted to make a statement and remind people that Keene is a welcoming place, we’re aware of the issue and we’ll do what we can to keep it a welcoming place.”

The resolution cites a number of abolitionists with local ties as inspiration for adopting the changes, including John Brown and Gerrit Smith, as well as speeches made by two Class of 2018 Keene Central School graduates.

The students, CorrieAnne Stoner and Miles Warner, shared their experiences of growing up in a predominately white community in a speech before the community. Their stories were “shared with grace and love for the community that helped raise them in an effort to instruct not chastise and to remind us that we can do better,” the resolution reads.

The students shared their stories a few months after controversy over a racist act erupted in Keene.

In January 2018, Maria Gates — a white 18-year-old from Keene — posted a photo of herself on Snapchat with a banner that read “Lynching n*****s tonight.” The incident shocked the town’s small community, sparked widespread controversy both in Keene and in Plattsburgh where she was attending college, and set into motion a series of events that would change the way this community approaches diversity education. Gates later apologized for her message.

In the years since, the school has implemented new diversity and inclusion programming into lessons at every grade level, Superintendent Dan Mayberry said last month.

“This is an important issue,” Cheetham-Palen said, when asked why she wanted to sign on to the town’s anti-racism resolution. “There’s no community immune or insulated from this. To me, it made sense to speak out and say ‘no, we don’t tolerate that here.’ The response has been fairly positive. I don’t know how you could disagree with us having to be welcoming to all people.”

Starting at $1.44/week.

Subscribe Today