By Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
8/20/09
Residents, community leaders and clergy all stood as one on the Town Green to affirm a simple message: Milton remains a “No Place for Hate” community.
Prior to the scheduled Parks and Recreation Department summer band concert Aug. 18 – a performance by Ken Lodge and the Baron Hugo Orchestra – the town held a special program preaching tolerance and acceptance in the community.
The event, led by the Interfaith Clergy Association, was a community-wide response to the alleged assault of a black man by two white men earlier in the summer. The incident, which police say happened on Randolph Avenue on July 19, is being prosecuted as a hate crime.
Town officials have roundly condemned the act.
“In the face of bigotry, bullying and bad-mouthing, silence is not an option … in the face of discrimination, silence is not an option … in the face of inhumanity, ill-will and injustice, silence is not an option,” said Rabbi Alfred Benjamin, of Temple Shalom, who heads the Interfaith Clergy Association.
Sen. Brian Joyce, Rep. Walter Timilty, the Board of Selectmen, School Superintendent Mary Gormley and Town Administrator Kevin Mearn were all in attendance at the event, as were members of the Police and Fire departments, Milton and Randolph No Place for Hate groups, and the town’s clergy.
As part of his speech, Benjamin asked residents to recite along with him a pledge to keep Milton a No Place for Hate community. “I am a part of making my community No Place for Hate,” he said. “I pledge, from this day forward, to do my best to combat prejudice and to stop those who, because of hatred of ignorance, would hurt anyone or violate their civil rights. I will try at all times to be aware of my own biases and seek to gain understanding of those I perceive as different from myself.”
Finally, Benjamin asked the crowd to “look to your left and to your right, in front of you and behind you … offer your hand and introduce yourself [to someone you don’t know.]”
No Place for Hate is an initiative of the Anti-Defamation League that focuses on empowering New England communities to endorse tolerance and inclusion. For more information, visit http://regions.adl.org/new-england/.
The band concert was sponsored by Sen. Joyce.