BLM flag debate renewed

Jensen: ‘Flags don’t help, action helps’

BY JASON STARR Observer staff

What to do about the black lives matter flag flying at Town Hall? It’s a question that has lingered since 2021, when the Williston Selectboard originally approved the display with the support of some residents and over the objections of others.

Raising the flag was the town’s first acknowledgment of systemic racism and came in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by police that set off a national reckoning. The selectboard initially approved a three-month stint for flag, then extended that in June of 2021 for nine more months. Last spring, the board put off a decision on whether to keep or take down the flag in favor of embarking on a months-long effort — led by the Williston Community Justice Center and a volunteer group called the Williston Racial Equity Partnership — to write a “values statement” committing the town to address systemic racism. When it approved the statement last October, the board also gave the two groups more time to determine how best the values should be visually displayed in town — and whether the black lives matter flag will be part of that.

“Flags don’t help, action helps, and leadership action helps,” said Jeanne Jensen, who was elected to the board this year. “Things need to change in this country, and we’re taking a see BLM page 20