By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew
This article has been edited for length and clarity.
Melanie Plenda:
Anthony, what is the mission of your organization?
Anthony Poore:
The mission of the New Hampshire Center for Justice & Equity is to empower and elevate New Hampshire's communities of color by making connections and meeting people so everyone can live their fullest life here in the Granite State. That's our mission. Our vision for our organization is to ensure that everybody who lives, works, plays or prays here in the Granite State,not only feels that they can belong, but their contributions matter to the greater good.
Melanie Plenda:
For our audience, let’s define what DEI is. When people use that term, what does it mean?
Anthony PooreIt depends on who you're asking. Over the course of the past year or so, for some the definition has changed. For myself, when I think about diversity, equity and inclusion, I actually move in the opposite direction, in the sense that what we're attempting to do through this work is create and develop inclusive policies and practices that lead to more equitable outcomes and create much more diverse environments. Instead of ensuring that everyone gets something, the goal here is to ensure people get what they need so they can contribute and live their best life.
Melanie Plenda:
With only 7.5% of New Hampshire’s population identifying as non-white, according to the 2024 Census. Why are these initiatives important in New Hampshire?
Anthony Poore:
Let's talk about young people right now, and I think this is where it's important. If you look at my daughters’ experience both 24 and 21 years of age, and you look at that particular cohort, or you look at kids under the age of 18 in New Hampshire right now, 20.2% of our kids under 18 reflect my daughter's lived experience — that is to say, their mother’s from Columbia, South America, their father happens to identify as a person of African descent here.
So what I would argue, and this is some of the pushback that we are always trying to suggest to people that, yes, New Hampshire is still a majority white state. But that does not mean that the state is not increasingly becoming more and more diverse. And as you know, had it not been for the in-migration of people into the state, not only would there be a loss of population, but those people that are coming in are both younger in terms of working age — between the ages of 18 and 44 — and the majority of people that are moving in the state are coming from international experiences or environments. They're coming from New England, with the vast majority of them coming from Massachusetts.
I think this discussion, or this argument, of “Why do we need to worry about diversity when we're not a very diverse state?” is not only inaccurate, but it paints us in a light that's not appropriate. I think about our school systems right now. Down in Manchester, Nashua, these are majority minority school systems, and are really at the cutting edge of our state's diversity.
Melanie Plenda:
What do you think is driving the executive orders on DEI?
Anthony Poore:
To put it simply, white supremacy. What I argue oftentimes is that we've seen this playbook before. Now, I don't claim to be a history major by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know a little bit about history. When I think about this focus and us moving backwards on what I call some of our Great Society programs — rolling back the Civil Rights Act, rolling back the Voting Rights Act, thinking about the Fair Housing Act in 1968 and the demise of what I would call the Great Society.
Let's go back. Let’s think about the original sin called slavery, right? From there, let's talk about, for example, the Trail of Tears, where we force — relocated — thousands of Native Americans off fertile southern lands so rich white landowners could have access to those rich lands for the production of cotton to support the production of linen, cotton and so on.
From there, let's talk about the Chinese Exclusion Act. For 60 years in this country, we excluded those of Chinese ancestry to immigrate into this wonderful nation of ours for fear of losing jobs, of them taking our “good jobs” away from us. We go from there, and of course, the post-Reconstruction period, the growth of Jim Crow, the 13th Amendment and so on. But then we get to World War II and the forced internment of Japanese Americans, thousands of Japanese Americans into places like Manzanar, and so on. I look at what we're seeing here as being historically accurate and not dissimilar to things that we've seen in the past. I think history is a wonderful teacher here.
Many of us would argue right now we find ourselves in maybe the third or fourth Reconstruction period, or post-Reconstruction period, and we've seen these before. So we should not be surprised that those that might fear change or a fear of loss to see these things happen. So I'm not surprised, at least, and I don't think this is a new phenomenon. I think the issue of white supremacy and the fear of loss has been with us since almost the creation of this incredible nation of ours.
Melanie Plenda:
The state of New Hampshire DEI commission page was removed from the nh.gov website in early January. What impact do you see these actions having on New Hampshire and the country?
Anthony Poore:
Well, if I'm not mistaken, that group was finished, if you will, by executive order at the departure of our former governor. But I think when I look at what we see going on at the national level and at the state level is that that creates an enabling environment that somehow suggests that these kinds of behaviors, these processes, these tactics, are somehow OK. And by creating that enabling environment, it allows other folks, either at the state or local level, to act out in ways that they otherwise wouldn't do.
As such, even our organization, which focuses on our disabilities community, our communities of color and our queer community, we've been the recipients of hate as of late,and this has just happened in the past two to three weeks, actually. Again, I think what we're seeing coming at us is a reflection of the kind of tactics and fear-mongering that we see at the national level beginning to play out at the local level.
Melanie Plenda:
Why do you think organizations that aren’t affected by the president’s executive order are altering their DEI programs?
Anthony Poore:
There were institutions and organizations who were changing their stance relative to DEI even before the executive orders, for fear of and so all those corporations shifted away from this DEI work well before our current administration took office, and, frankly, before the executive orders. I think some organizations — some, not all — were reading the tea leaves, if you will, and tried to get out in front of this problem before it becomes one, for fear of being targeted.
At the same time, we've seen companies like Costco that I'll lift up and celebrate, who said that we recognize that, frankly, this DEI stuff is not a new phenomenon. It's a tried-and-true solution, and in lieu of targeting specific segments of our consumer base, we want to not only target all of our consumers, but ensure that we have a board and a staff that reflects our consumer base. So instead, we can get a little bit of everybody's money, if you will, and we think that's a good thing.
I look at DEI as simply being good business, particularly in this space, because you have access to the greatest and largest talent pool, you have access to the largest consumer base, and we have the best talent and the largest consumer base, you can achieve economic prosperity. Honestly, as I think about this DEI and this anti immigration sentiment that exists here in the state, I often think about our local communities.
A dear friend of mine, a mentor, and I’ll call him out — John Moore from Bangor Savings Bank — told me once that “doing good is good business.” And I think of DEI being good business, particularly in this space, because you have access to the greatest and largest talent pool, you have access to the largest consumer base, and with the best talent and largest consumer base you can achieve economic prosperity.
So, honestly, as I think about, particularly right now, this anti-immigration sentiment that exists here in the state, I also think about our local communities, and let me think about three sectors of our environment. First, I think about the hospitality sector and food service — it's one of the largest economic sectors in New Hampshire. I would argue that our hotels and motels cannot operate without immigrant labor who are here either as immigrants and refugees, or think about places like Santa's Village or the Mount Washington Resort, where young people come here on an H-2B visa to earn money during the summers and gain experience working internationally.
Let's talk about our health care industry. I would argue, as a cancer survivor and somebody who spends a lot of time in hospitals, that Dartmouth-Hitchcock and other hospitals could not operate if it wasn't for foreign-born providers in our current system, and they require an H-1B visa.
Or let’s talk about agriculture. Frankly, our agricultural sector, particularly dairy, could not survive if it wasn’t for our migratory laborers who come in based upon the seasonality of work
So this anti-DEI sentiment, this anti immigration sentiment, not only affects us negatively from a business perspective — but when I think about our overall economic prosperity as a state, to just allow people to come here to work — at the end of the day is just cutting our nose to spite our face if we want to achieve economic prosperity that we all claim to want here in the Granite State.
Melanie Plenda:
What are the perceived benefits of removing DEI initiatives, if any? Who does this benefit?
Anthony Poore:
Mediocre talent. I founded the New Hampshire Center for Justice & Equity, alongside the board, three years ago. And, as any employer, I want the best and the brightest talent. I'm here in the nonprofit sector, but I'm competing actively with the for-profit sector for the smartest, the most hard-working, dedicated employees we can find. The idea of limiting that talent pool because I want people who reflect my own lived experience and not the lived experience of others, I think diminishes our opportunities at the local, state and national level.
My grandfather used to tell me, “You never want to cut your nose and spite your face,” and I feel that this anti-DEI, anti-immigration sentiment is doing precisely that — we’re limiting our potential and our future opportunities.
Melanie Plenda:
The NHCJE’s website describes New Hampshire as one of the many states subjected to outside interests pushing an agenda to “normalize racism.” What do you mean by that?
Anthony Poore:
New Hampshire has 1.4 million people, and it is small enough to where if you want to move initiatives forward, you can do that in a way that almost represents a test case for other opportunities outside of New Hampshire.
Let me give you an example — and this is not a discussion for or against, it's just an observation. If we think about current legislation right now to advance universal school vouchers here in New Hampshire. A lot of times people will talk about vouchers as a means to make a positive difference in kids who the traditional school system is failing. Here at the center, for example, we are not anti-voucher, what we're suggesting is for those that the voucher is intended to serve, let's do that work.
But historically, if you look at the utilization of vouchers, a lot of times are used for folks who are either homeschooled, participate in private school, or some combination of that. These typically tend to be middle- and upper middle-income individuals who may not need that additional subsidy. So we're seeing the parental rights movement, the school voucher pieces — all those things are advancing here in New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a smaller state. It gives us an opportunity to try these things out, if you will, and then bring them to scale in other states. So again, Free Staters moving into New Hampshire did not happen by coincidence. It was intentional, because they knew that they had the opportunity to push their agenda here further along, particularly given our citizen legislature and all the things that come along with that.
Melanie Plenda:
What is the New Hampshire Center For Justice and Equity planning to do about all this?
Anthony Poore:
The first thing that we recognize is that the work continues. We're not going to stop doing what we believe to be really, really important work.
One is to encourage people to recognize that New Hampshire is not a quote, unquote, lily white state that is diversifying, and that's important for people to recognize that. Number two, it's important to work with our allies and collaborators across the state. We're a statewide institution, but we want to continue to maybe blunt some of the negative activity that's taking place with respect to our communities of color and similarly marginalized populations.
So, in the short term, continue the work and blunt some of the negative things coming our way, but in the long term, begin to galvanize support at the local level that cuts across issues of age, gender, race, ethnicity, preference, identity or geography, and to bring together what we call people of a good conscience to form a coalition of what I'll call the willing. Because, at the end of the day, real power rests with the people.
But there's so much coming at us right now, people don't know where to go, frankly, and are looking for opportunities for mutual support. And so the New Hampshire Center for Justice & Equity, along with our allies, are intent on creating those safe places for communities so we can come together with one unified voice and an agenda that's been developed collectively that responds to our individual communities’ needs, but on issues of mutual concern we can all come together again with one voice and demonstrate our power. And that’s the direction we’re moving forward in.
Melanie Plenda:
Along those same lines, what can the average Granite Stater do about this?
Anthony Poore:
Number one, I think it's about really understanding and knowing our changing community. It's about staying informed and organizing around those issues that concern you. There's so much stuff being thrown at us right now. Identify two or three issues that you really care deeply about and find people that share that common concern and organize.
When I think about our communities of color, our immigrant population, and so on, I think for those that want to be allies and collaborators and supporters, I think it's important that we build relationships with key leaders in those communities and those organizations — and, as appropriate, identify and advocate for those issues that directly affect those communities.
I think, just from an accessibility perspective, we want to meet people where they're at, particularly as we're coming together, and accommodate for language or other accessibility issues. I think what we can all do is recognize that everything is local here in New Hampshire, and I think it's important to contact our local and state and federal delegation about issues that concern us so they can know that while there might be a vocal minority of people who may have negative thoughts, that the majority is really in the middle, and there are people of good conscience there who want to really engage in this work.
Lastly, I think it's important that those that can to donate to organizations who are working directly with these communities, and if you can't donate, support their fundraising activities, so they can continue this good work and make sure that no matter where you come from, no matter how big your pocketbook is, no matter what your language of origin, that you know that New Hampshire is a place where you can live, work, play and pray, and that your contributions matter and you actually belong.
Melanie Plenda:
That was a great discussion. Thank you Anthony Poore, president and CEO of the New Hampshire Center for Justice and Equity.
“The State We’re In” is a weekly digital public affairs show produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members. These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visitcollaborativenh.org.
