Ed. Note: Maine has its own TRC - more states to follow, we hope. Trace
Vermont now has a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 'It’s a huge task.'
Truth and Reconciliation Commission has officially started its work
with the announcement of its first three staff: Mia Schultz, Melody
Walker Mackin and Patrick Standen.
A state-funded effort has begun to document how Vermont state laws and policies have discriminated against marginalized communities,
including people with disabilities, Black people, Indigenous people,
other people of color and people of French Canadian heritage.
It came out of legislation passed last year that created a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to seek ways to repair harm caused by the state of Vermont.
In
a press conference, a selection panel announced the
commissioners who will lead the effort over the next three years as
full-time state employees:
- Mia Schultz, president of the Rutland-Area NAACP
- Melody
Walker Mackin, an artist, educator, member of the Vermont Commission on
Native American Affairs and citizen of the state-recognized Elnu tribe - Patrick Standen, professor at St. Michael’s College and leader in Vermont’s disability community
The
new commissioners stressed their roles include making policy
recommendations, as well as hearing experiences of communities who
suffered injustices.
“We know this is not about what has just
happened in the past,” Schultz said. “This is about how that past
continues and is perpetuated in our present, and how we’ll learn from
it, and eradicate it in our future.”
They’ll have an annual budget of almost $750,000, and will hire an executive director and other researchers.
“First,
we're tasked with starting an office — there’s nothing like this that’s
been done before,” Schultz said. “We are starting from scratch.”
"It's a huge task," Melody Walker Mackin said.
A commission with more limited scope was created in Maine
to document the state's child welfare practice with Wabanaki people,
and Burlington City Council created a Reparations Task Force in 2020,
but the new commissioners said they're not familiar with any mandate
that's so broad in scope.
"While it may look overwhelming, it's
essential that all voices by heard," Standen said. "The resources that
are provided by the state at this point seem to be ample and welcomed."
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