Letter To The Editor: Brookline Rejects Inequity Complaint Committee

BROOKLINE, MA — The following letter to the editor was submitted by the Brookline Equity Coalition.

Brookline likes to think of itself as a progressive town. We overwhelmingly voted for candidates like Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, and under 13% of us voted for Trump. We were one of the first Massachusetts municipalities to ban plastic bags and selling tobacco to anyone born in this millennium. Black Lives Matter signs dot our lawns and windows.

But Brookline has an unsavory underbelly too. The Town has repeatedly failed to hold people accountable for racism and discrimination. Consider the decade-long injustice against firefighter Gerald Alston resulting in an$11 million settlement, the firing of two Black police officers for complaining about racial harassment, and the ongoing gender discrimination lawsuit where the accused officers were promoted. Brookline has an unaddressed discrimination problem.

This side of Brookline again showed itself on May 31, when Town Meeting (TM) voted against establishing a new Complaint Committee to investigate incidents of discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, familial status, and other protected classes.

WHAT HAPPENED

The Brookline Equity Coalition (BEC) is extremely disappointed in this vote, which technically “referred” the legislation for further study. In reality, this vote sends the legislation to a purgatory where it will likely die. We are disheartened that 61% of Town Meeting Members (TMMs) voted against this measure even after hearing their neighbors’ compelling testimony.

An Asian American Brookline High School student shared her family’s personal experience with discrimination in Brookline because of their limited English skills. A Latinx BEC member testified about how important this process was to him and his family who are Brookline Housing Authority residents and who’ve faced discrimination in Brookline. TM's vote to reject this civil rights measure was particularly tone-deaf coming the day after an Op-Ed was published in the Boston Globe by a Black Brookline High student, describing the discrimination and bias in our public schools.

How did the supposedly progressive Brookline vote down a measure so basic as establishing a Discrimination Complaint Committee, a body that Cambridge and Arlington have?

DISINGENUOUS FEAR-MONGERING

Opponents of the Discrimination Complaint Committee attacked the measure claiming it would
target local small businesses. They argued it would be biased in favor of those who complain of
discrimination, imagining trivial complaints like having one’s foot stepped on.

The opposition asserted the legislation was unworkable because it would consist of volunteers — yet most Town bodies, including TM itself, consist of volunteers. Opponents claimed it’s not needed since the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination handles complaints well; just last week, the Boston Globe reported that the state body can take more than a decade for a complaint to be adjudicated.

Opponents argued the measure needed more study and work, despite two years spent by the Town’s Commission of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Relations, which included 30 public meetings, two public hearings, and hundreds of hours of research.

Some TMMs’ voiced concerns about the possibilities of “reverse discrimination” and “reputational damage to the town” should discrimination victims have an effective way to complain. To enough TMMs, such concerns were of a higher priority than hearing from victims of discrimination. These fear tactics likely influenced many TMMs who think of themselves as anti-racist or progressive.

ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES

Last month, the local status quo defenders coalesced under the banner of Brookline by Design (BBD). Using the innocuous slogan of “let’s make a plan”, BBD worked to elect dozens of TMMs. Over three-quarters of BBD’s endorsees voted to refer. Even if it wasn’t every BBD members’ intention to elect TMMs willing to reject civil rights measures, that is clearly the end result.

Progressives will need to work smarter in the next election. Last month, only 18% of voters showed up. BBD helped install a Town Meeting that took a shameful vote, a vote that we believe does not accurately reflect Brookline residents’ values and commitment to anti-racism, anti-discrimination, equity, and justice.

As in national politics, a well-organized, well-funded group that wants to maintain the status quo is in control. But we believe the long arc of history can bend toward justice — if we collectively work to make it happen. BEC is ready to help do that work.