Dr. Robin Santiago is slated to be appointed to the West Hartford Human Rights Commission (WHHRC) on Wednesday, November 12, 2025. We, the undersigned, strongly oppose this appointment. While Dr. Santiago is entitled to her personal opinions, her publicly shared social-media activity is inconsistent with the WHHRC’s mission to promote equity, inclusion, and mutual respect for all residents.

Dr. Robin Santiago has a documented history of sharing content that contains racist and inflammatory statements toward both Jews and Palestinians, raising serious concerns about their suitability for appointment to a town commission on human rights. Her public record includes social media posts and remarks that dehumanize entire communities, promote ethnic superiority, and undermine the principles of diversity, equality, and coexistence that such a commission is meant to uphold. Appointing an individual with this record would not only compromise the credibility of the commission but also alienate the very groups it seeks to protect. Human rights bodies require members who demonstrate empathy, fairness, and respect for all people — values fundamentally at odds with Dr. Robin Santiago’s past behavior.

The examples below summarize representative posts from the past three weeks and explain why they raise concern. Each citation reflects a publicly accessible article or statement that Dr. Santiago shared or endorsed.

1. “Diversity is Overrated” October 25, 2025
“The truth is: Diversity is not what makes a society great… The more the West celebrates diversity, the less united it becomes.”

Concern: This post rejects diversity and inclusion as social strengths, directly conflicting with the WHHRC’s mandate to advance equity and belonging for all residents.

2.  “UNICEF data show there was no famine in Gaza.” October 31, 2025

This post calls UN famine reporting “a hoax” and “fabricated.”

Concern: Relies on ideologically driven sources to deny humanitarian suffering, undermining empathy toward civilians and trust in neutral humanitarian institutions. The claim directly contradicts verified reporting by UNICEF, which has confirmed famine conditions in Gaza for the first time. Official statement: UNICEF – Famine confirmed for first time in Gaza.

Official statement: UNICEF – Famine confirmed for first time in Gaza.

3. “I gave ‘Palestinians’ a free pass. I was wrong.” November 3, 2025
“On the most part, Gaza is Hamas… Extremism, violence and hatred of the Jews is deeply embedded into the culture of the Middle East.”

Concern: This blog post attributes extremist behavior to entire populations and mocks concerns about Islamophobia, reinforcing harmful stereotypes.

4. The Jew Cage, November 7, 2025
Blog post  claims that about 95% of Jews are Zionists, adding that "the other 5% "… are not really all that smart” 

Concern: This post mixes facts with conspiratorial, inflammatory, and demeaning claims about Jews, Muslims, political progressives, and public institutions. The language ridicules dissenting members of the Jewish community and employs hostile generalizations that equate modern law-enforcement actions with Nazi tactics. Such rhetoric distorts history, promotes division, and conflicts with the WHHRC’s mission to encourage respect, factual accuracy, and inter-community understanding.

5. The United Nations Has Become the Dictators' Club: Chooses Tyrants Over the Oppressed, October 25 
The article claims that the UN “spreads anti-Israel propaganda,” “promotes Jew-hatred,” and is “dominated by despotic regimes.”

Concern: This post comes from a source known for promoting Islamophobic and conspiratorial narratives under the guise of policy analysis. It portrays the United Nations as an illegitimate institution driven by hostility toward Israel and the West, using sweeping generalizations that malign entire regions and religions. Such rhetoric undermines faith in legitimate human-rights frameworks and multilateral cooperation, promotes division, and conflicts with the WHHRC’s mission to encourage respect, factual accuracy, and inter-community understanding.

Our (West Hartford) Town Code, in Chapter 5, Article IX, formally established the Human Rights Commission to promote equity and protect human rights at the local level. These human rights are inherently tied to the UN. Each year, the Town celebrates the Anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and the Mayor issues an annual proclamation reaffirming those commitments. 

For an incoming WHHRC commissioner to openly mock an institution central to the development and protection of those very rights—the United Nations—is the antithesis of the principles outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and, by extension, the underlying mission of the West Hartford Human Rights Commission itself.

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For the reasons stated and outlined in the examples above, we urge the West Hartford Town Council to reject the appointment of Dr. Robin Santiago. Approving this nomination would not only contradict the Commission’s stated mission to promote equity, dignity, and respect for all—it would call into question the integrity of the selection process itself.

We further call on the West Hartford Town Council to review the values and conduct of the Commission's current members to ensure that all appointees, present and future, embody the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that the Town celebrates each year.

A Human Rights Commission must be composed of individuals who unequivocally believe in and uphold human rights for everyone. Anything less undermines the very foundation of its purpose and betrays the trust of the community it serves.