It’s hard to know which is more disturbing — the Twitter diatribes by (briefly) appointed Northampton Human Rights Commission member Tara Ganguly, or the collective shrug of the shoulders from Mayor David Narkewicz and Commission Chairwoman Natalia Muñoz.
Then again, why choose? Ganguly’s venom toward a wide range of people, and the insouciance of the people who nominate and lead the Human Rights Commission’s members, serve up a double helping of dispiritment.
Ganguly announced Tuesday that she would not serve on the commission to which she was appointed last week by the City Council. The reason: A Gazette story about statements Ganguly made on her publicly accessible Twitter account in which she dissed people who protest police killings of black citizens, called for the sterilization of a woman accused (but not yet convicted) of child neglect, said people with incomplete educations and high debt should not have children and declared, “I have no problem encouraging complete morons to commit suicide.”
Calling the Gazette account a “hatchet job,” Ganguly said it had persuaded her not to serve. “I don’t believe the people in the community are going to be able to look past a sensationalist, cherry-picked story that does not encompass me as a person in any way, shape or form,” she said, adding that she’d “much rather have the freedom to speak.”
Ganguly was right that some people in the community found it troubling that the author of such missives would be named to serve on a commission whose mission statement says this: The human rights commission shall act to promote human rights in the city of Northampton. The commission shall advocate and be an information resource for the rights guaranteed pursuant to local, state, and/or federal law on the basis of race or color, gender, physical or mental ability, religion, socio-economic status, ethnic or national origin, sexual identification or orientation, or age for all persons within the city of Northampton.
But the mayor and commission chairwoman apparently do not see the disconnect. When initially questioned about the tweets — which he had not before seen — Narkewicz told Gazette reporter Amanda Drane that he didn’t agree with all of Ganguly’s pronouncements but was unfazed by her strong opinions. Speaking as the official who initially nominated her, he said, “I didn’t see anything that would disqualify her or anyone else from serving on a city board.”
Commission Chairwoman Muñoz was more emphatic. “The scandal here is not what Tara put in her social media; it’s that the Gazette is run by white men,” Muñoz said after Tuesday’s article appeared. She said Ganguly, who is half Indian, was singled out because she did not fit into the “cookie-cutter white” culture of the city. “I was really looking forward to working with Tara and I’m sorry she will not be at the table,” Muñoz said.
Ganguly might well have brought a valuable perspective to a commission that has been hemorrhaging members. As a criminal defense attorney, Ganguly likely comes into regular contact with people grappling with the consequences of both social injustice and personal irresponsibility.
Strong opinions rooted in such experience could have added an important element to the commission’s deliberations.
But any public figure, even one serving on a volunteer board, needs to balance critical thinking with respect for people who think and live differently. And by that crucial measure, Ganguly — in repeated tweets, not just a few — showed herself to be at odds with the intended spirit of the human rights panel.
This episode should spark a discussion among city leaders and residents about the extent to which social media postings should be considered in appointments to this and other public boards. We hope that it doesn’t produce an overreaction, an expectation that an appointee pass a litmus test so severe that it excludes all but those who arrive with the approved skin tone, gender identification and ideological bent.
But a healthy respect for one’s fellow human beings? That shouldn’t be too much to ask.