Supporting diversity in New Hampshire’s Legislature

The 2022-2023 Legislative session is upon us. With diversity being a major topic on the minds of voters, my purpose for this article is not to encourage you to support any particular legislation, but to encourage you to reflect on your potential impact on legislators as they consider bills that will allow the state to either embrace or restrict the actions of our citizens toward creating an equitable and inclusive society as described in the U.S. and New Hampshire Constitutions.

During the 2021-2022 legislative session, HB 1544, referred to as the “Divisive Concepts” Act, was put forth. It did not pass. But the Act was incorporated into the House Budget trailer bill HB 2 — an action that, while legal, was very much out of the ordinary as the act had nothing to do with the state’s budget. But because it was part of the budget, renamed the “Right to Freedom from Discrimination” Act, it passed.

Many feel this legislation is the result of fear of many across the state. Fear of having to discuss or having teachers and officials speak about melanin-challenged people as being racists, sexist or discriminatory against those classes of people protected by the law. Yet, the legislation has caused fear and anger across the state in those protected classes and those trying to right the wrongs brought by the discrimination of the past.

People in those protected classes feel that diversity and our nation’s true history with respect to them is not being embraced by our legislators in a way that is beneficial. In fact, they feel legislators are trying to force everyone to ignore diversity and to ignore righting the wrongs of their ancestors who created systems that are discriminatory to this very day. As longtime activist Woullard Lett says, “Everyone is negatively affected by legislation that is intended to demean/control ‘marginalized groups.’”

The passing of the Act has spawned several bills in this 2022-2023 legislative session that can be turned into ways to further control what people can say about those protected classes. Examples include HB 35 relative to reproductive rights, HB 75 relative to teaching on discrimination in the public.

The basis of our democratic republic is that we have a representative form of government. We know that legislation is written and passed by legislators. Legislators are supposed to represent us. A question to ponder is, how can a group of people represent us if they are not representative of us?

The National Council of State Legislators (NCSL) produced the State Legislator Demographics Report on December 1, 2020. It reveals not only the lack of diversity in the NH Legislature, but a significant lack of representation of diverse people as legislators as compared to the current population as reported in the 2020 Census. The statistics show that while New Hampshire has a non-white population of 11.7%, the non-white membership in the Legislature is 2% (with 25% not reporting). While the male-female population of the state is approximately 50%/50%, the membership in the Legislature is 66% male, 34% female.

Now, if you think a melanin-challenged person can truly represent the values and perspectives of a melanin-enhanced person, or that an older male can truly represent the values and perspectives of a younger female, or that an able-bodied person can truly represent the values and perspectives of a physically challenged person if they have not had significant interaction with those people and not bend to the desire to enforce their own values, I invite you to view the 2000 movie “What Women Want.” Advertising executive Nick Marshall (Mel Gibson) is given the assignment to create a marketing pitch for a woman’s product. At first, his test pitches fail miserably. Then he has an accident that suddenly gives him the ability to hear women’s thoughts, to know what women want.

After this, his marketing pitches work like a charm. A person (or group of people) can only truly know what a person (or group of people) wants or thinks if the people are asked — or better, are made up of those people.

So, how do we respect the dignity of the office to which legislators have been elected and still ensure that legislators pass laws that appropriately support the values and needs of melanin-enhanced people or younger women? We must contact them. Articulate our values and our desires. Express what laws we want passed or not passed. Hold them accountable. And encourage others to do the same.

Some will ask how we even know how to reach their representatives.

• Get contact information of you representatives from the websites of the NH General Court (gencourt.state.nh.us/ house/) and the U.S. Congress (congress. gov/).

• Call or visit their offices.

• Watch the news for their appearances in your area and attend those events.

• Write them letters.

If you are a melanin-challenged person or young woman in NH, you may ask “Why bother contacting my legislators? They won’t listen to me.” The answer is, and it has been proven time and time again, if enough people contact a legislator or speak up at a hearing, it then feels to the legislator that the people have spoken. The legislator will then feel obligated to act as the people say. Not contacting your legislator is a certain recipe for not getting what you want. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You can’t win a lottery if you don’t buy a ticket.

While it may seem like a bit of work and an uphill battle to be civically engaged and part of the democratic process after legislators have been elected into office, it is really not that difficult. And the rewards are well worth the effort. It is how we create the society we all pledge to create when we utter the words of our pledge of allegiance — with liberty and justice for all. 603