Many Americans today, including some Vermonters, have lost any sense of civility, and actually think that being ignorant thugs is an effective long-term political strategy. History instructs differently, and one case where we will see this is in the escalating debate over race in Vermont.

Vermont has never been systemically racist, yet to even say so (let alone reference Vermont’s abolitionist activism) makes one a racist. Yet, the very definition of systemic racism — using government to make express distinctions between citizens based solely on skin color — is what is being implemented presently in the name of replacing a so-called “systemic racism” (defined as the collective subconscious racism of Vermonters over time, or in the past). Shockingly, the UVM administration is embracing this vapid toxicity: implementing such an overtly racist ideology suggests that UVM should be closed down permanently, and its budget shifted to VTC and other (hopefully sane) local colleges.

John Klar

Look what happens if anyone disagrees with this toxic new racism — they are called racist. This is more than uncivil: it is a failure of character and a deterioration in public discourse, and it must be opposed. Thugs intimidating fellow Vermonters with false claims of racism are the worst kind of “citizen.” It is time we Vermonters began confronting those people who call others racists merely for disagreeing with them politically. We see signs saying “white silence is violence.” Let us recall Elie Wiesel’s counsel that “silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” Vermonters are being shamed and tormented by a toxic racist ideology that will enslave us all — unless we stand up for our heritage, liberties and truth. Let us not be silent.

Connor Casey is an elected official who publicly called me a racist, with no evidence. Does that mean I can publicly proclaim Connor Casey is some sort of horrible person in retort? Is that how we undertake exchanges of ideas in 2021 Vermont? Because that is the tone and methodology employed by Connor Casey: defamation is a last-resort political tool when policy or logic are absent. But laws exist to hold people accountable for slander and defamation — those laws must not remain silent. They have something to say, in court, to people who lie to gain power or dominate others.

Many in the Casey camp seem to enjoy bullying people they don’t even know for daring to question their rulership. The Vermont Legislature is weighing bills that incorporate boldface lies about Vermont — that prostitution was banned for racist motives, that Vermonters employed sharecropping laws to push black farmers off the land, that our medical and legal systems are discriminatory against BIPOC Vermonters (using manipulated statistics). This builds on years of lies proclaiming that our police are all racists. All of these lies can be easily proved to be false; only our collective silence allows these hateful rulers, and their contemptuous delusions, to prevail.

Perhaps we must sue the thugs who think lying and bullying pays in Vermont — Vermonters are being doxxed, threatened and harassed, and having their businesses destroyed, by an infiltrating cabal of secret Antifa thugs who believe grade-school bullying is “social justice.” They are encouraged by public officials who berate and harass anyone who dissents as auto-racist. We must stand up to all of them — especially public leaders.

Speaking of which, if Gov. Phil Scott wishes to perpetuate the ugly lie that our Vermont ancestors were all racists, let him come out and defend that with facts. UVM, and our government, have been doing everything in their abuse of power to prevent this conversation. Enacting expressly racist laws in response to alleged subjective racism is going to amplify rather than diminish conscious racism. (Of course, the out-of-touch ideologues who preen themselves with their false self-enlightenment utilize the racial agitation they foster to justify their false premises.)

Let’s have a press conference devoted to this vitally important subject which now forms the foundation of almost every law our Legislature considers. We are told racism is a crisis in Vermont, and that white people must speak or they are complicit — but they are only allowed to agree. Fie! The jig is up. We’ve been silently tolerant long enough. If you believe Vermont is systemically racist, you need to prove that to the people you are subjugating with that falsehood. Then you need to lead us by showing how these new wealth transfers to newly arriving BIPOC people are going to cure the non-problem.

I for one won’t be bullied by thugs, or support laws that discriminate between Vermonters based solely on race. This is against existing constitutional law, the teachings of Martin Luther King and our Vermont heritage. I’d say that’s a racist ideology — because it is. And it defends its position by calling anyone racist who disagrees with its racism.

How stupid can you get? And how stupid do these stupid people think Vermonters are? The days are over of us lining up for forced sterilizations or lobotomies for elitist ideologues who think they can just bully their way into domination by calling our grandmothers racist. They have another thing coming: public accountability. And the public is rising up!

What if the Stalinites organized a revolution, and it failed? Let’s make sure this toxic, racist, “social injustice” revolution fails in Vermont, where the constitution will endure as the law of the land, along with civility and truth — where Vermonters will be judged by their honest, enduring character rather than the color of their skin.

John Klar is an attorney and farmer residing in Brookfield, and the former pastor of the First Congregational Church of Westfield. © Copyright True North Reports 2021. All rights reserved.