In this difficult day, during this difficult time for the city of Everett, it’s perhaps well to ask what kind of a city this is, and what direction do we wish to move in?
For those of you who are Black people and Brown people, Hispanic and Brazilian — considering the evidence of how you are all treated by the leadership at Everett City Hall, it appears a fact that there are white people who are responsible for perpetuating your second class citizenship in this city.
However, the vast majority of Everett’s white people are seeking justice from city hall the way you are – and in this respect – you are all one, exposed to the racism, the homophobia, the sexual harassment and retaliation of a city hall out of control.
You can be filled with anger, and some of you with hatred, and a desire for revenge, because of how you have been treated by city hall and Everett’s elected public officials.
We can move in that direction as a city filled with hatred toward one another, or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand, and to comprehend, and to overcome that hatred and racism.
The stain of second class citizenship and mistreatment that has become one of the hallmarks of Everett City Hall and the elected city government must be replaced with understanding, compassion and with the clear message that all of us are created equal.
Elected public officials from the mayor down seek to exclude you from the workings of municipal government.
When Gerly Adrien was elected several years back, she was tortured by her colleagues on the council who urged her to resign. She wasn’t the right color. She spoke freely. They wanted her to know her place. In Everett parlance, she was a Black woman with a big mouth and a great deal of arrogance. Listen carefully to her words recently for she is attempting to help create a better world for Black people, Brown people, His- panics, for whites, for all of us struggling to do the right thing in a vastly changed world.
For Black people who are tempted to be filled with hatred and mistrust against all white people, I say, don’t go down that road. Rather, stand up for yourselves. Speak out. Do not be afraid. The Everett Leader Herald stands with you.
We have to make an effort in this city. We have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond the racism and the hate, and to go way beyond that place.
In the words of the late John Lewis:
“My parents told me in the very beginning as a young child when I raised the question about segregation and racial discrimination, they told me not to get in the way, not to get in trouble, not to make any noise.”
But John Lewis, one of the giants of the civil rights movement who stood shoulder to shoulder marching through the South with Martin Luther King, did not listen to his parents.
“When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You must be bold, brave and courageous and find a way…for what is fair”
“You cannot be afraid to speak up and speak out for what you believe. You have to have courage, raw courage.”
What we need in this city is not division and hatred, racism, jealousy, retaliation and exclusion. Whether they be white people or whether they be Black people, what we need is compassion toward one another. We need justice toward those who still suffer from second class citizenship in this city because of the color of their skin, or for the language they speak or the nation they came from.
We can do well in this city – and many have. But we are having difficult times.
The vast majority of white people and the vast majority of Black people, Brown people, Hispanics, and Brazilians in this city want to live together.
At the Everett Leader Herald, we do not seek the ruination of the mayor or the paralyzed city council or the school committee and all the silent department heads running city hall.
We seek justice for those denied a chance because of the color of their skin, the language they speak or the nation they came from.
We are your voice. We confront city hall sponsored and supported hate, racism, sexual harassment, homophobia, misogyny and the ugly reality of government retaliation and municipal corruption.
To all of you brave enough to be protesting, let the words of the late Robert Kennedy resonate throughout the ages: “Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.”
Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our city.