BRATTLEBORO-The day after the recent presidential election, there was a noticeably dour tone among the people I spoke with in this deep blue community.
People were racked with fear for the safety of their vulnerable neighbors: queer and trans folks, recent immigrants, refugees, people of color, people with disabilities.
They were anxious about what Trump would do to an already-fragile economy, or how he would impact already-atrocious conflicts abroad being fueled by U.S. weapons. They were worried about the resilience of American democracy and its institutions.
And perhaps most deeply, they were crushed by considering what it meant to live in a country whose voting majority had just cast their ballots for a man who was labeled even by his erstwhile confidants as a fascist.
I had hoped that the shock and anguish of the moment for our Democrat-aligned community leaders and decision-makers would inspire an urge to evaluate the stakes and come together to make sure the most vulnerable in our community were taken care of, maybe even to begin the work of building a refuge for people fleeing repression elsewhere.
Watching the special Brattleboro Selectboard meeting that followed on Tuesday, Nov. 12, I realized how naïve my hopes were.
In the face of a majority of people testifying against it from our most vulnerable communities and folks working through mutual aid or local agencies to support them, the Selectboard voted to drain over half of the town's available revolving loan fund balance to build a new police substation in the Transportation Center, in a year when the tax rate is set to increase by as much as 22%, thanks in large part to an already-massive increase in the police budget.
Instead of coming together to affirm that all people deserve care and respect, the Brattleboro Selectboard (all Democrats, I'd hazard a guess) retreated to the same politics of fear and division and grievance, the same dehumanizing rhetoric, the same exclusionary policies and building of walls over bridges, the same big-stick approach to social breakdown, and the same kleptocratic urges that animated the Trump/Vance campaign and that less than a week prior they were all likely bemoaning had seized the country.
But we should perhaps thank the Selectboard for wasting no time in demonstrating that when Trump-style authoritarianism makes its way toward this Brave Little State, it will not stand in the way to defend this community's most vulnerable. Indeed, this Vichy Selectboard will have already prepared fertile ground for the hatred to grow.
In the words of a very different Republican, Mister (Fred) Rogers, when things get difficult and scary, "look for the helpers."
When fascism creeps onto our legendary stony soil, don't look to those who mock and deride and yell "Lock them up!" or "You can't do that here!" Look for the helpers, the people who, despite their own troubles, care to notice and ask, "What troubles you, neighbor?" and do their best to help.
Better yet, become a helper yourself.
Fhar Miess
Brattleboro
This letter to the editor was submitted to The Commons.
This piece, published in print in the Voices section or as a column in the news sections, represents the opinion of the writer. In the newspaper and on this website, we strive to ensure that opinions are based on fair expression of established fact. In the spirit of transparency and accountability, The Commons is reviewing and developing more precise policies about editing of opinions and our role and our responsibility and standards in fact-checking our own work and the contributions to the newspaper. In the meantime, we heartily encourage civil and productive responses at [email protected].