Mayor calls for unity to address racial issues facing area
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
With residents of her city embroiled in a contentious debate over issues related to race, Burlington Mayor Jeannie Hefty made a public plea for unity this week.
“Our community and our community leaders must rise and continue to pursue justice and equality for all people,” Hefty said in a statement read at Tuesday evening’s Common Council meeting.
The goal, she said, is a “united community, not a community that is split by various political beliefs.”
In a separate interview, Hefty said she became concerned as area residents took to social media to express their fears and their views on protests in Kenosha and the Black Lives Matter movement.
The community debate came to a contentious head on Monday when more than 100 people showed up at the Burlington Area School District Board of Education meeting to criticize or support the actions of a local elementary school teacher who responded to questions from her fourth graders in late August by teaching a lesson that addressed the racial unrest, protests, violence and the Black Lives Matter movement.
The matter prompted some on social media to call for the teacher’s firing as they contend she was forcing her political beliefs upon the students. Supporters of the teacher have said the classroom discussion was appropriate given current events and had nothing to do with indoctrination.
School Board President Roseanne Hahn announced following the comments that the teacher, Melissa Statz, would not be fired and the personnel matter would be handled internally. For full coverage of Monday’s meeting see the Sept. 17 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
Motivated to act
Hefty said the emotional divide prompted her to act.
“This is really hard to watch – to see us being torn apart, especially after (the protests and violence in) Kenosha,” she said. “I just care about this community so much and don’t like what I’m seeing.”
The mayor said the community has been through so much in the past year with issues stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.
“Nobody has any peace,” she said. “It’s very hard to sit back and watch this.”
Hefty said she and City Administrator Carina Walters met Monday with Darnisha Garbade and other members of the Burlington Coalition for Dismantling Racism in an effort to better understand the situation and help chart a course for understanding among area residents.
The goal, she said, is to work collaboratively with the coalition, the Burlington Area School District, local business and residents to “address what is before us.”
“As your mayor, I reject all forms of racism, discrimination and harassment of anyone and it is time for the city to take action,” she said in the prepared statement.
Hefty also reminded people of Burlington’s history as a pioneer community on the Underground Railroad, which assisted escaped slaves in finding safe passage to Canada in the mid-1800s.
She noted the community’s intermediate school is named for Dr. Edward Dyer, who was a prominent abolitionist and a leader of the local Underground Railroad effort.
To read the complete text of Hefty’s statement, see this story in the Sept. 17 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
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