Diversity Strikes Again

The historical signs that commemorate the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in Concord have been taken down because officials say "they harmed indigenous people and didn't reflect the town's people today".

These signs were put up in 1930, by the Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commision, given to the town to recognize the 300th anniversary of the original colony's founding.

According to the Boston Herald:

"The Diversiry, Equity and Inclusion Commission, as well as the Historical Commission, found the signs as 'problematic and antithetical to the inclusive goals of the Town of Concord', said Donna McIntosh, the town's communications manager".

(((Donna McIntosh))), Concord Communications Manager

"Following the recommendation of the Select Board, the chairs of the DEI Commission, Historical Commision, and Historic Districs Commission have been invited to begin a conversation to discuss the interpretation and messaging on these sites, as well as a plan for the actual signs, which are period pieces", McIntosh said in a statement to the Boston Herald.

DEI Co-Chairman Joe Palumbo, during a Historical Commission meeting earlier this month, claimed how "indigenous people have been here for 10,000 years".

"The big idea is the research and scholarship, we just know more than we did before", Palumbo said. "There's no fault or blame implied in the work we're doing right now or in the past. It's just that we know more stuff. We better change some of what we're communicating".

DEI Co-Chairman Joe Palumbo

Select Board member Mark Howell - who sits on the town's DEI Commission - said he felt some of the language on the signs were "slurs". He ordered the DEI Commission to conduct a joint research with the Historical Commision on whether to remove the signs, replace them with "more accurate and relevant content" or to incorporate them into a educational exhibit.

Select Board member (((Mark Howel)))

Historical Commission member Ryan Hanley sided with Palumbo that when there's "better historical information" that it's "incumbent for officials to make revisions". However, he urged the town to err on the side of caution when deciding to remove the signs or not given today's political landscape.

"Every present moment believes that it sees better than the past. It's incubent upon us to remember that we too will be judged", he said. "There has got to be a great deal of humility, a great deal of thought before rushing into anything because we are in a very complex ideological moment, and I would hate to think that we would simply want to replicate that moment".

Historical Commission member Ryan Hanley

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