Reflecting on Community Response Scenarios

On Thursday, December 7th, the NRN met at the Needham Town Hall. As a large group, the NRN applied a series of decision considerations to 3 rapid response scenarios. This was the second iteration of review. The first draft was created during small group work last month and then via an online feedback form that was open to the community between November and December. 


GROUP BIO: CHINESE FRIENDS of NEEDHAM PRESENTED BY YINFEI ZHANG

The Chinese Friends of Needham (CFN), founded in 2010, is a non-profit organization with the following goals: 

  • Promoting education of Chinese language, culture, and heritage through building a vibrant Chinese American community in and around Needham.

  • Deepening Chinese communities’ civic engagement and creating an equal, inclusive, and diverse neighborhood for Asian American to thrive.
 
  • Strengthening diversity and inclusion through close collaboration with other local non-profit organizations and building allyship. 

The CFN’s mission and vision are to lead a strong Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in their pursuit of belonging and prosperity that is free from discrimination, slander, and violence through close collaboration with other diversity groups.

CFN is mission-driven and strives to elevate and celebrate AAPI culture through activities such as community celebrations (e.g., Chinese New Year and children’s craft fairs) and language (Mandarin) programs.  

The CFN work goals include: 

  • Promoting Racial Equality
  • Expanding Social Impact and Collaboration
  • Encouraging Community Participation and Leadership
  • School Policy Initiative


LARGE GROUP SCENARIO REVIEW, DISCUSSION AND ADDITIONS

As background, the Rapid Response curriculum that informed the NRN’s thinking about risks and messaging can be found here.  
 
The large group walked through response considerations for three scenarios.
 
Scenario 1: a potential case of business discrimination. The Needham Human Rights Committee (NHRC) has received multiple reports from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) residents that clerks at a local retail store have followed them closely around the store. They are concerned that the store employees are assessing threats in a way that targets people of color. 

Scenario 2: a school hate incident. Violent antisemitic graffiti is found in the boys' locker room at Needham High School. Parents and community members are trying to understand school protocols, find a way to support the affected family and communities, counter the underlying message of the hate incident, and reaffirm the school and community’s culture of inclusion and safety for all.  

Scenario 3: a neighborhood hate crime. Unidentified assailants set fire to the home of an LGBTQ+ family in Needham. They paint "Queer" and other graffiti on their house. Neighbors are rallying to support the family and protest the offense, while the police are deciphering the nature of the crime.
 
REVIEW PROCESS

For each scenario, NRN reviewed the feedback from the previous November meeting and an online form provided in the weeks between meetings that was open to the community. In addition, the Superintendent of Schools and the Chief of Police provided scenario-specific feedback regarding school and police protocols, as relevant. 

To organize the review, the Network walked through decision-tree questions meant to help a community decide if and how to respond:

  • Step 1: Analyze the Situation - Who are the stakeholders? What narratives does this incident promote? What are the risks of escalation?

  • Step 2: Deciding Whether to Respond - What are the risks/benefits of no response, and of various response options?

  • Step 3: If Responding, Determining the Response - What messages would counteract the narrative promoted by the incident? What messengers/ad platforms would be most effective? 

  • Step 4: If Responding, Re-evaluate your message - Double check the message/plan to avoid common communication risks.

COMMON THEMES/TAKEAWAYS

Several themes arose throughout the review regardless of the scenario being considered. These included: 

  • The necessity of co-creating a response based on the needs and desires of the affected community (or communities) and inviting those impacted to lead the way if they wish to and are able.

  • Recognizing that, when it comes to choosing effective mediums and messengers for the general public, responding as a diverse and unified front can be powerful. At the same time, sometimes the goal might be to find just the right messenger for a specific community. 

  • Community response must complement and support existing response structures, so it is important that the community understands what they are. Confidentiality considerations are core to the protocols of both the schools and law enforcement, yet individuals and the community at large can still offer support while they are investigating. It will be useful to delineate roles ahead of time.

  • NRN and other community groups, such as the Needham Human Rights Committee, might serve as a resource for the broader community by building awareness, facilitating community conversations and offering resources on how to prevent and counter hate. 

  • Not all responses have the same costs and benefits. Responses should take care not to contribute to a rumor mill that could fuel misinformation or division, especially if on social media. 

  • Rapid response is also a form of prevention. In cases where it makes sense to bring an incident to light, there is an opportunity for education, training and policy adaptation (e.g., more sensitive and equitable practices). Sometimes it is helpful to publicize the policy changes that are being made behind the scenes.

  • Bringing the community together in response to a hate event can reinforce connectedness and belonging and send a message of unity and strength that outweighs the hate incident and re-affirms the power of our culture and community.  

Several themes also stood out as reminders for the community at large as it evaluates, processes and responds to hate and bias: 

  • There is a natural tension between acting immediately vs. waiting until we have all the information (the urgency could be resolved in part by messaging from the NRN/HRC to indicate that the issue is being worked on).

  • While the stakeholders may vary across scenarios, large segments of the community are often aware and involved when a hate/bias incident occurs. 

  • Confidentiality is required in schools, both to comply with the law and for the privacy and wellness of victims and perpetrators. Police also require confidentiality as they review cases, both to protect the integrity of the investigation and to protect bystanders who, if they became aware of details, might be required to become witnesses.


NEXT MONTH

In January, the Network will discuss, revise, and vote on a communication template for the scenarios, and a mobilization and event protocol for community response. It will also discuss a proposal to erect an NRN Steering Committee and process by which to instigate, help implement, and provide resources for community response (to be voted on in February). 


CLOSING PULSE: A WORD OF REFLECTION

  • New
  • Productive
  • Coalescing
  • A lot of resources
  • Internally conflicted on how to support all perspectives and people 
  • Complicated
  • Layered
  • Expecting - seeds for the future 
  • Processing 
  • Hope 
  • Culmination 
  • Focus 
  • Assembling
  • Pride


A heart-felt thank you to all of our NRN participants for their thoughtful and insightful comments and suggestions.