Montclair Chapter Of FAIR Launches, Seeks To Expand In Township

MONTCLAIR, NJ — A chapter of the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR) has formed in Montclair and is seeking to expand its presence in the township.

A representative of the Montclair FAIR chapter recently reached out to Patch with a statement about the group’s launch, noting that its board of advisers includes Montclair native Coleman Hughes. Read the full statement below.

According to its website, FAIR – which is based in New York City – describes itself as a “nonpartisan organization dedicated to advancing civil rights and liberties for all, and promoting a common culture based on fairness, understanding and humanity.”

The organization says it advocates for people who are “threatened or persecuted for speech, or who are held to a different set of rules for language or conduct based on their skin color, ancestry or other immutable characteristics.”

Some critics of the organization have pointed out that many of the cases profiled on its website involve arguments against critical race theory (CRT), although a national FAIR spokesperson denied it was founded to combat CRT.

“FAIR has since lobbed criticism against CRT and broadly advocates for a ‘human first’ mindset — something critics liken to an ‘All Lives Matter’ mentality,” Chalkbeat New York reported after the organization’s founding in 2021.

An article in the Guardian that year took the criticism a step further, naming FAIR as one of a host of new organizations that has “sprung up to spread the fear of critical race theory far and wide.”

Other people have expressed mixed opinions about the organization online. As seen on a Reddit thread discussing the group:

• “Sounds like ‘talking about racism is the real racism.’ I'm super good on that nonsense.”
• “Personally? Yes, I like a lot of those people, and tend to share that perspective, so I would have some support for this organization.”
• “They try to sound good but their only goal is for us to stop discussing or teaching about racism.”
• “These are severely toxic people who've made a career barely sitting on the conservative edge of acceptable for corporate media and they had to make a new club because they just fell off.”
• “I also largely agree with FAIR and am not afraid to admit that an organization might not be perfect—no organization is perfect. Right now, the divide between left and right is so severe so I keep my eyes open to areas where we might be able to find common ground—or at least talk. Clearly from some of the hostility in this post, not everyone is a fan but I'm hopeful some people can start talking about these issues in a more productive way.”

However, according to the Montclair FAIR chapter’s website, its members are only trying to “promote a world in which we all are judged as individuals according to the content of our character” – to quote civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.

“Every person also has a right to exercise freedom of speech in the pursuit of civic discourse,” the organization states. “We believe the important struggle against discrimination and prejudice is best advanced by emphasizing our common humanity, appreciating differences, encouraging civil dialogue, and respecting the rights of others.”

The Montclair FAIR chapter plans to hold its next meeting on Sunday, March 26.

'A PRO-HUMAN APPROACH'

The Montclair chapter’s launch statement follows below.

“We would like to announce the formation of the Montclair Chapter of The Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR). FAIR is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing civil rights and liberties, and promoting a common culture based on fairness, understanding, and our humanity. FAIR has almost 100 chapters and more than 30,000 members nationwide. FAIR’s board of advisors—which includes Montclair native Coleman Hughes—is a diverse group of prominent intellectuals, journalists, artists, activists and public figures who embrace a pluralistic ethos and a “pro-human” approach to controversial issues.

“FAIR’s Montclair chapter will aim to promote open and civil discourse across all areas of life in Montclair from our media to our civil institutions. We believe the way to solve even our most entrenched problems is to look at them from multiple points of view, to challenge each other’s ideas, to listen with open minds, and to address social and political issues in a way that seeks common ground and mutual civility in dialogue with others.

“FAIR Montclair will focus initially on education, where we will work to ensure that our schools encourage free inquiry, open debate, political neutrality and tolerance of diverse viewpoints. We are concerned that our district has begun to prioritize the inculcation of social and moral values over academic learning and objective truth, and that some curricula presents political or social ideologies as fact rather than opinion. We believe an education that focuses on academic outcomes and employs proven teaching methodologies will best position students for lifelong success and fulfillment, and is the minimum our children deserve.

“FAIR’s membership in Montclair comprises people from a wide spectrum of political and social viewpoints—progressives who feel an intolerant ethos has developed among their political kin, classical liberals seeking to protect individual and political liberties, conservatives who feel maligned or misunderstood by some quarters of our town, and those whose views defy easy categorization. What unites the Montclair membership is dedication to the liberal values of pluralism, open-mindedness, and freedom of thought and speech, and a concern that some have eschewed these important values in addressing difficult social and political issues.

“We held our first meeting on Martin Luther King Day this year—an appropriate day because FAIR embraces Dr. King’s commitment to treating all people with dignity, respect and fairness. We are proud to say that our meeting involved a robust exchange of ideas on a wide range of issues. We invite Montclair to learn more about FAIR at https://www.fairforall.org/montclair-nj, where you can also inquire about joining our chapter or attending our next meeting on March 26.”

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