Colchester Scraps Proclamation That Declared Racism a Public Health Crisis

A recent decision has angered some in Colchester.

On Monday, the newly-elected first selectman reversed the town’s proclamation to declare racism as a public health crisis.

The declaration was made last summer after the Black Lives Matter protests that swept the nation.

One of the first selectman’s campaign platforms was to eliminate the racism as a public health crisis on his first day.

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Colchester First Selectman Andreas Bisbikos was sworn in this morning.

Just hours later, he issued a proclamation reversing the 2020 proclamation declaring racism as a public health crisis.

The new one says it “unfairly and falsely came to assert that racism is a public health crisis affecting our town without facts or data to back said assertion”.

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“He reversed declaring racism as a public health crisis, but did he actually go out of his way to ask any black community members or any other community others of color what they felt like in this town?” Colchester resident Jahmarley Wright asked.

Part of the proclamation says the Bisbikos administration will support diversity and inclusion through “a review of HR policies and practices at town hall, reaching out to diverse communities, ensuring that all employees go through sensitivity training, and meeting our state goals on affordable housing“.

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