Regarding “Aister Angst,” the charges laid out in the media seem to indicate that the original incident involved racial slurs against a child Aister was trying to protect.

Some of the urgency came from complaints from that child and parent about an earlier pattern of racial slurs and taunts on the playground. The hearing officer’s report indicates such slurs were factually unsubstantiated.

Nonetheless, the School Board, by their decision to fire Aister, the protector of a nonetheless vulnerable child, has now run a serious risk of “institutionalizing” the ugliness of racism into the district’s (and by proxy, the town’s) philosophy, policy and procedure. Attempts to neutralize negative publicity and to further besmirch Aister cannot whitewash the simple truth that the board has punished a protector in favor of the privileged.

Our town and school demographics do not favor a thorough understanding of racism, yet I know so many fine, open and caring people here. The board took a risk that the rising controversy would die down. Now we have all lost.

Some of us will seek to reverse this damage by sending a message that is as clear and decisive as possible at the polls in this month’s and future elections. I would hope that the new board will find ways to mitigate the effects of their decision on our district and town.

I urge them to call in an organization of scholars and sociologists to educate us, to help us in self-examination, and to counsel us out of any unintended consequences --i.e., elements of racism --that may reside our town, our schools and its governing bodies.