I’m on a committee that’s leading Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion efforts in my county, and we met with Al Wakefield and his group when we were drafting our own Inclusion statement. I can’t imagine what the Highgate selectboard took issue with in the language on their website.

I think the only reason (other than blatant racism or xenophobia) to reject the very basic statement of inclusion that Al’s group advocates for is that it’s potentially a way for towns to feel like they’ve checked a box and virtue signal but doesn’t require any fundamental change in the status quo. The idea is, of course, that the statement is simply the first step. The actual work is making sure policies and zoning and community investment, etc is equitable.

I’m not sure what’s up in Highgate, but at least the selectboard says they’re willing to revisit the matter with more community involvement. The challenge there is that the people for whom this equity work matters the most usually don’t have the leisure time to get involved.

It’s called Nepali Cuisine. The samosas are excellent.