TEAM Westport continues to act as a partisan body
A Letter From a Concerned Parent
The following letter was written by a concerned Westport parent to the members of the Westport Board of Selectwomen. The author has given us permission to publish it here in its entirety.
I was very disturbed by the public and partisan statements from Harold Bailey during his introduction of yesterday’s Heather McGhee event at the Library as reported in the Westport Journal.
Per agreement with your office, TEAM Westport is supposed to be a group that represents the entire town in ensuring an inclusive atmosphere in town for all... yet Bailey’s “draft statement from the committee” is one that is extremely partisan and not representative of the spectrum of viewpoints in Westport. This is not what you and the RTM are working toward in the rebalancing of TEAM.
Rather, Bailey and TEAM Westport, an official committee of the Town and thus speaking for the Town, continues to put forth divisive, unsubstantiated statements regarding the value of Black Lives, blame of Asian-Americans for COVID, anti-Semitic views, LGBTQ legitimacy, as well as fear of teaching our country’s history among other items. You can see the list of Harold Bailey’s seven statements at the MLK event at the Westport Library as reported by the Westport Journal.
Furthermore, contrary to Bailey’s claim, resistance to DEI has been very specific and not, as he states, to notions of diversity or inclusion as general principles. Resistance has been to the presumption of racism as a filter through which all actions and results should be evaluated.
Bailey’s statements are political activist statements, and misleading at best… a perfect example of how TEAM does far more to generate division than it does to help and why it needs to be neutralized ASAP… per your promise.
Many in Westport agree with me. One comment-writer noted that:
By insisting on focusing on racism at every moment and by seeing it in others all the time, one misses important facts and fails to see the complete picture. It is essential that we stop using every possible event to prove the existence of a racist world thereby furthering an ideology of oppression that necessarily pits people against each other.
As I said above, it is very troubling to see Bailey and TEAM continue to represent the town of Westport in such a partisan way, especially after you have promised to address the issue. Bailey said in his statement that his points would be formalized… that clearly would be inappropriate for assorted reasons as have previously been stated and discussed.
I and many others would appreciate your swift action in representing the diversity of all Westporters… When can we expect change to occur?
Many thanks for your considered and swift response.