EDITORIAL: Boulder Councilwoman Mirabai Nagle's remarks on race were toxic

Nov. 23--The new Boulder City Council was sworn in on Tuesday, and members got down to business with their first meeting that evening. They addressed several substantive issues, such as the Council's 2020 state and federal legislative policy agenda and new rules for tiny homes. But the most notable moment came during the Council's selection of its new mayor and mayor pro tem, when Councilwoman Mirabai Nagle voiced bizarre and odious views concerning race.

Now-Mayor Sam Weaver and now-Mayor Pro Tem Bob Yates stood as nominees for the positions. (In Boulder the Council chooses the mayor and mayor pro tem after an election.) But during a public hearing that preceded the mayor vote, several speakers urged the Council to select leaders who would better reflect Boulder's aspirations related to inclusivity. Weaver and Yates are white men, and the speakers argued that the Nov. 5 Council election -- in which a black female immigrant won the second-most votes and a woman who has served as an attorney for asylum seekers won the third-most votes -- was a mandate to amplify diverse voices on Council.

"We have five white men up there, four of whom are some version of a single-family homeowner ... That perspective excludes a significant portion of this community," said Mark Gelband, addressing the Council. Gelband, a former Council candidate, has accused members, particularly Weaver, of perpetuating "racist" housing policies. Andy Sayler, echoing Gelband, stood at the podium and said, "I would strongly encourage you not to select white men. As a white male myself, I would say it is extremely important that we have voices that are not merely white men on Council."

Evidently this was just too much for Nagle, who was inspired to offer the kind of retort Weaver and Yates themselves surely wished she had kept to herself. "This might not be popular" -- that was the first red flag -- "but we're sitting here talking about white males. I'm guessing you two (indicating Weaver and Yates) have pretty different backgrounds in terms of your race. I'm pretty sure you're born in different states. I'm pretty sure you have different income levels. I'm pretty sure you have different values. I'm pretty sure that you attended different schools and studied different things," Nagle said. It got worse: "You guys have pigmentation that you can't help, and you have genders that you can't help, but you're being lumped into the white male. I mean, every single race on this planet has in some way been (pause) had something horrible happen to them at some point in their history, so for us to be lumping you as white males is just, I'm sorry, I've had it, it's obnoxious."

It's hard to believe that a public official in America in 2019 fails to grasp that the difference between the experiences of two white people is not remotely comparable to the difference between the experience of any single white person and that of any single person of color. White people in America, no matter their economic or educational status, benefit from advantages that are denied to black and brown people, and men for centuries have enjoyed more opportunities than women.

Nagle could have made the legitimate point that white men should not be unfairly penalized for their race and gender. But in arguing that every race has suffered something horrible, Nagle asserted a toxic "all lives matter" equivalency between white people and the people white owners formerly enslaved. Councilwoman Junie Joseph, a black woman who was born in Haiti, was sitting mere feet away as Nagle spoke.

Nagle's remarks were ignorant and repugnant. But they also tainted city business, because they had bearing on several priority issues before the Council. A perennial Boulder project is the creation of more affordable and various housing types of the sort that could accommodate a diverse population. The city this year, following an incident in which a black Naropa student who was picking up trash at his own home was confronted by police officers with guns drawn, created a Police Oversight Task Force to develop a new method of assessing complaints against officers. One of Weaver's own stated goals for the new Council is to study the city budget using "an equity lens to analyze department priorities," which would apply social equity values to fiscal policy. But Nagle's astonishing remarks validate the fears of residents who believe some city leaders are indifferent to the interests of diverse members of the Boulder community.

Perhaps Nagle can learn from this instance of insensitivity. Shortly after she spoke, her white Council colleague Aaron Brockett offered a corrective. "I do feel like, as a white male, that role carries a great deal of privilege that I, and I think the rest of us, have benefited from enormously throughout the course of our lives."

It's unfortunate such a truth was necessary for someone to state, and the community can only hope that Nagle was persuaded.

Quentin Young, for the editorial board, quentin@dailycamera.com, @qpyoungnews.

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