The passage of Resolution #6-R-2,1 the Resolution Condemning Xenophobia, Racism, and Violence Against The Asian Pacific Islander Desiamerican (APIDA) Community, by the Appleton Common Council on 05/05/2021 was, in some respects, anti-climatic. After extensive public comment during the 04/28/2021 Safety and Licensing Committee meeting as well as some discussion among committee members it was passed from committee with no changes to the full Common Council.
Mayor Woodford had 6 proclamations he presented to the Council. Due to time constraints he opted to read none of them aloud except the one declaring May 2021 Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in Appleton.
Before opening up the meeting to public comment, Mayor Woodford addressed the public and said that the community had gone through some pretty contentious conversations lately. He understood that folks felt frustrated and concerned and he recognized and respected that. He explained to the public that in the Common Council chambers they maintain respect for one another and the community. He asked them to direct their comments to the Chair (which was Mayor Woodford) and not to community members or alderpersons. “It’s important that we treat each other with dignity and respect not only in this room but out in the community.”
With that having been said, the Council listened to over an hour of public comment. Not all of those were for the AAPI resolution. Many people were there to speak on the CEDAW resolution, and some people spoke on both resolutions.
I have extensively covered the public comment made on this resolution both here and here. So I will not recap the public comment at this meeting also as it was similar to previous statements made at previous meetings. As at those other meetings, there was a range from people who spoke of their experiences with racism and asked for help to those who were more accusatory regarding the reasons behind the Council not approving this resolution right away.
Jeanne Roberts, President of the League of Women Voters of Appleton, was the last one to give public comment. She had spoken at the two committee meetings and the one Common Council meeting the resolution had previously been in front of. She urged the Council to approve both resolutions before them that evening and stated, “I can’t believe that I’m here for 4 weeks trying to convince this Council that it’s not okay to hate people in Appleton.”
After public comment was finished, the Council took up the AAPI resolution.
Alderperson Maiyou Thao made a statement. “First and foremost I want to thank all of my colleagues here for their commitment to bettering the city. We are all in this seat for a reason becauses the people chose us. I am humbled and honored to cogovern with my colleagues in the community. I am hurting when the community is hurting and I’m hurting with those who stand up here and believe their experience. I am hurting with the allies and organization who are taking a stand to support our community. I am committed to getting along with my colleagues and our community members. It starts with having meaningful conversation and intention relationship building. Let’s not work to make Appleton the most welcoming place for everyone but also the best place for everyone to stay, build a family, and [indecipherable] the talent. And I strongly believe that these are the right things to do for our community. For the last two weeks I have been hearing from multiple asian american who come in to speak here that they were told to go back home and they feel that they don’t belong here. I want to say that we all live here now. This is our home and I am your voice and I’m here to represent you at the local government level and I hope that after this experience that everyone can create a relationship with your alderperson and vice versa that these alderpersons are also committed to creating relationships with their constituents so that we can all be your voice that this table If the city wouldn’t be what it is now without people in it. I encourage all of our community and you to work hard and come back and bring your talent and love for community. And last and most importantly let’s be a city known for unity and love for one another. Thank you.”
None of the other alderpersons spoke, and the resolution was passed 15-0.
[It was interesting to watch this whole situation play out over the last several weeks. I see some parallels between what happened here with the Common Council and a controversy that broke out in the knitting world back in 2019. A popular knitting designer posted about her struggles with anxiety disorder and her excitement at travelling to India. She mentioned that, when she was younger, being offered a trip to India was akin to being offered a seat on a flight to Mars. She was then brutally excoriated by many people for engaging in what they identified as a racist exotification of India even though she had said nothing wrong in any objective sense and was simply innocently expressing her excitement to travel and do something new that her mental health issues had previously not allowed her to.
Like that knitter, the Common Council members who voted for the refer back and considered amending the resolution did nothing objectively wrong. I see no evidence to suggest they were doing anything other than following the basic procedural rules of the government body they were elected to be a part of and exercising appropriate due diligence in carrying out their responsibilities as elected officials. And yet that action of doing their job in the established way that the Council is supposed to do its job was considered wrong and potentially racist even though there was no evidence of racist motivation or intent.
Two years after the witch hunt on Instagram, the knitting world is irreconcilably divided. We have yet to see how things play out in Appleton. As one of the people who gave public comment said, “These lived experiences are what I really want you to think about hard for both of these resolutions and for what I’m sure is going to be a very active couple of political years coming up. Buckle up. We’re not being quiet anymore.”]
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=853492&GUID=148AA3A4-D401-4581-9AE3-C7EF734F39B0&Options=info|&Search=
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