- File: James Buck
- Liz Cady speaks at an anti-CRT gathering last May
She spoke at several anti-critical race theory gatherings last spring and summer. At the Essex Center Grange Hall in May 2021, Cady alleged that a school district training for teachers called Courageous Conversations was an example of critical race theory — an academic concept that states that racism is embedded in institutions such as schools. The term has become a polarizing one in the nation's culture wars.
Related Local Commotion: National Divisions on Race and Equity Are Roiling Vermont School Boards
Cady again made headlines in December when she penned an essay published by the Vermont Daily Chronicle, a conservative website. In the essay, Cady likened the treatment of unvaccinated people to the persecution of Jews' during the Holocaust. Board chair Erin Knox and district superintendent Beth Cobb promptly disavowed Cady's views. In recent months, the school board has revisited its member code of conduct policy, in part because of Cady's actions, according to the Essex Reporter.
Cady, who has lived in six other states and two other countries, added that she has found that in Vermont, "the intensity of hatred directed towards those with differing conclusions eclipses any other state or country our family has lived in."
Board leaders treat community members who support their actions differently than those who criticize them, Cady charged.
"[T]hose who send praise and applause will receive immediate responses while those with differing views are treated with responses that do nothing to answer their concerns and effectively silences them into knowing how futile it is to contact the board ... if they receive a response at all," Cady wrote.
Board chair Knox declined to comment on Cady's resignation email.
Last month, Essex voters elected three new members to the school board, in a race that largely focused on issues of equity. Candidates who expressed strong support of the district's work promoting equity — Laura Taylor, Marlon Verasamy and Robert Carpenter — won seats, while three contenders who questioned aspects of the district's equity policy — Earl Barber, Roger Drury and Juan Coleman — were defeated.
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