Tabitha Moore, director of the Rutland county chapter of the NAACP in Vermont, is leaving her home following months of racially-motivated harassment.
What We Know:
- Tabitha Moore has already found a buyer for her new home following months of harassment towards her and her family. Amongst many incidents, the vandalism of her home and intimidation tactics by community members towards her daughter propelled the decision to move.
- Although the family plans on relocating, they are still unsure as to where exactly they will go. Moore is not surprised by the harassment, she said Vermont is primarily white by the state’s dark history of a sweeping eugenics program and particular slave laws.
“I’m just repositioning myself, I’m not leaving. I’m going to continue to do the work in Rutland county and across the state. If anything, this just strengthens my resolve and lets me know we’re doing good work.”
Tabitha Moore (told the Rutland Herald)
- Similar to Moore, many other black and brown people in the area left because they can’t handle the racism. Kiah Morris ended her re-election campaign to the Vermont House of Representatives due to racial harassment in 2018.
- Moore has no intention to leave Vermont she emphasized, “If we are to end systemic racism, we must remain committed, we must remain in it.” She has suspended her campaign for high bailiff, a countywide seat, to focus her time on finding a new home and tending to her family.
Racially-motivated harassment will not drive Tabitha Moore out of Vermont, she is a native of Wallingford, a small town in Vermont, where her family goes back six generations.
