by Michael Byington
This article responds to the letter in the June “Forum” from the ACB Board to the membership. I am writing as an individual member of ACB, one who has been around since the very early days of the organization. I am an affiliate president, but this letter does not necessarily reflect the views of that affiliate or of any other affiliate or committee, for which I do some type of work. The views are exclusively my own.
I commend and support the board for efforts to continue to move the important work of ACB forward. I agree that the work of ACB is too important to let a hurtful disagreement scuttle its good efforts.
At the same time, I do not feel that sweeping issues of concern under the rug are in the best interests of ACB’s future. I am sure that doing so is not the board’s intent, but it seems important for those of us who disagreed with the board’s decision to take no position concerning the civil rights rally to be able to voice the reasoning behind our disagreement.
I listened carefully to the board meeting of January 30. I believe that the board made the wrong decision. I did not arrive at this conclusion at the time of the board meeting, however. I was unsure about what to think. I came to this conclusion a few days after the meeting, when I learned of relevant information which was not presented. The letter states that the decision was made after ACB’s democratic processes, which we all value and cherish. As someone who indeed values and cherishes those processes, and who is a former board member, I must observe that those processes usually have involved a well-balanced presentation of all sides of issues on which votes are to be taken. In this instance, we were given information from one attorney engaged by the president and acting executive director, and not given information from other equally respected attorneys who had been consulted. We will never know whether this information would have changed enough votes to have changed the outcome.
So what do we do now? Yes, we must move forward in a spirit of healing and coming together. This includes showing respect for staff, realizing the essential need for ACB’s work to continue, and taking care of our democratic principles in the future.
I am certainly attempting to present these views in a respectful manner, and I apologize if any staff or member of ACB has found me to be disrespectful in the past. That has never been my intent.
Part of the responsibility of being an ACB Board member, however, is understanding that there are consequences for actions taken. The Board’s decisions do matter. I am thus one of a number of members who will not attend the convention in person this year. I will be involved virtually, and I have continued to support ACB through MMS and the auctions, but I will not spend significant monies with ACB for events taking place in the state of Florida. I have similar concerns about Texas next year as well. Had ACB fully supported a civil rights rally, I would have certainly been there in person.
I thus want to close by thanking the ACB Board for its diligence and concern. I do not think anything done has been mean-spirited or intentionally harmful. In equal measure, however, I want to commend those individual members and affiliates who are joining me in sitting this convention out in terms of attendance in person.