Town weighs privacy, underreporting fears as hate reporting group forms

When Megan Denis tells people about racist acts against her family here in town, “people don’t believe it,” she says. 

Then they often ask why she doesn’t move.  

Denis pushes back and gets an apology. Still, she says it’s “an uncomfortable conversation” that makes her feel like she’s being blamed for speaking up.

She says she’s left wondering, “Where do you turn?”

As Acton tries to understand whether discrimination is underreported and why, a new Bias/Hate Incident Reporting Work Group is coming online to refine tracking methods. 

“I think we’re all aligned on what the goal is,” Select Board member Cameron McKennitt said during an October 6 meeting. “How do we do that in a responsible way?” 

McKennitt raised the specter of “communist countries” in which governments positioned themselves as “behavior police,” encouraging people to snitch on their neighbors.

Board Chair Mark Howell said he’s not so worried about people “spying or turning in others.” Rather, he said he’s heard residents say they don’t know how or where to report hate incidents.

“Right now, we just have such an incredible level of underreporting,” he said. 

Work group membership

The Select Board backed creating the new group last month, and it chose member Paul Boehm as its representative October 6. McKennitt had also volunteered for the role.

The DEI Commission tapped Agnes Lubega-Kalisa as its representative. Michael Williams and Sandeep Pisharody vied for the School Committee seat, with Pisharody chosen. 

The Select Board named residents Deborah Dorfman, a lawyer and disability rights advocate, and Daniel Hart, an Anti-Defamation League alumnus who now works for Harvard, as at-large panelists. 

Boehm said the group “ought to be able to” return recommendations within six months.

Acton takes reports through the police and the public schools. Officials say incidents are still falling through the cracks. 

Select Board member Mary Hartman said she shares some of McKennitt’s concerns. She emphasized that the work group will make recommendations and the Select Board will decide what to implement and how to handle collected data. 

Hart told The Acton Bridge that any system will need a verification process to prevent false accusations. 

He said he was glad the Select Board prioritized reporting as part of its response to this summer’s surfacing of allegations of rampant antisemitism in Acton schools.

He said he’s already thinking about implementation, whether he’s part of that process or not.

“You can come up with the best system ever,” Hart said, “but at the end of the day, what really matters is whether people use it.” 

‘We belong here’

When it comes to action, “while there certainly need to be consequences no matter what,” Hart said punishment isn’t always the way to go.

Denis has three non-white-presenting children in Acton schools. Instead of discipline for hate incidents, she’d prefer education. 

As for those interactions where she said people suggest she leave town, her response is short: “Why should I?”

“We are looking for conversations and dialogue and understanding — and that we belong here just as much as you do,” she said. 

Trace Salzbrenner contributed reporting.