STRATTON — Donna Macomber aimed to spark a hopeful discussion, but it was only a minute into her welcome when she burst into tears.
“I've watched the absolutely inhumane way people of color are treated in this country,” the Brattleboro resident said. “This is one of the most painful years of my life, and I'm a white woman. I am really worried about the conversations that are not happening.”
Then again, that's why Macomber and 60 other local and state leaders assembled this past week for the Vermont Vision for a Multicultural Future conference at Stratton Mountain Resort.
The fifth annual event, organized by the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, gathered public and private-sector representatives to talk about how the second whitest state in the nation can open itself to the rest of the world.
“Our vision for Vermont is that we become recognized in the United States as the epicenter for inclusive thought and practice,” partnership director Curtiss Reed Jr. said. “Whether it's in law enforcement, tourism and travel, education, or faith communities, we want Vermont to be on the cutting edge of social and racial justice.”
Challenges and opportunities
The Green Mountain state has both challenges and opportunities, participants noted as they introduced themselves.
On one hand, its Agency of Education employs only one person of color, said that person, Programs Coordinator Emma Louie.
On the other, its Agency of Transportation has an Office of Civil Rights, noted the division's director, Lori Valburn.
Attendees from the Vermont Department of Corrections reported that people of color constitute 5 percent of the state's population but 10 percent of all those incarcerated.
Vermont State Police, for their part, acknowledged a recently released study showing troopers stop black drivers at five times the rate they do white drivers, even though they find contraband more often in vehicles operated by whites and fewer such violations in those operated by Asians, blacks, Hispanics or Native Americans.
As a result, state police have hired a full-time director of fair and impartial policing and community affairs.
“It's everything from working with our hiring and training division,” said that leader, Captain Ingrid Jonas, “to getting our arms around the data that evaluate our efforts.”
The Agency of Commerce and Community Development is addressing diversity through its Department of Tourism and Marketing.
“We've evolved at how we market Vermont as a destination for travel,” state marketing director Steven Cook noted of such efforts as the African American Heritage Trail and, just this summer, a Vermont Life magazine cover picturing a Somali girl living in Burlington.
“That was our first cover with a person of color,” Cook said. “For the most part, we had a positive response, but some people were not pleased. They said, 'That's not the Vermont we know.'”
Shifting demographics
But the state is changing, participants confirmed. People of color make up nearly 20 percent of the freshman class at Burlington's Champlain College, educators said, and up to 40 percent of the entire student body at Rutland's College of St. Joseph.
Shifts in enrollment, however, aren't yet translating into employment.
“How many agencies have a challenge recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce?” Reed asked as a majority of participants raised their hands.
The conference also addressed topics ranging from remembering the many homelands woven in the state's heritage to educating youth about their shared humanity.
“Much of the national dialogue has been around what's wrong,” Reed said. “We want this to be about what's right and we can advance to the rest of the nation. Given our small size, a population that is more educated, and weather that forces us to help our neighbors, we have a unique opportunity.”
Added participant Julie Cunningham: “It's so important to remember action, not anguish. We need to confront with love.”
And said Macomber: “I have hope that if we continue to sit with one another, if we're really able to talk about the roots of all oppression, we could actually untangle it. I feel profoundly trusting this is not the end of the story.”