Human-rights group is valuable to town
In last week’s Minuteman, Yukari Scott described her experiences of living in Lexington and as a No Place for Hate (NPFH) committee member. Lexington’s Armenian residents share this love of our community’s diversity, tolerance, and respect. That is why we, too, have chosen to live here.
We also greatly value the important work performed by our NPFH committee. We have declared this clearly and consistently in our letters, articles, and public statements. Thus, we were surprised by her writing Armenians have “unfairly misrepresented” NPFH.
She says it is a misunderstanding that “ADL [Anti-Defamation League] created a program called NPFH [and] neither national ADL nor ADL of New England has ever influenced our programs.”
Yet the ADL’s Web page states: “The No Place for Hate program was created in 1999 by ADL, in partnership with the Massachusetts Municipal Association to provide communities with a solid framework for fighting all kinds of hate and bigotry.”
Further, ADL leadership stated in last week’s Minuteman that local communities “have achieved meaningful results in full partnership with ADL experts. We work very hard at the local level and take great pride in what is accomplished in every city and town,” [and] “The content and substance of the [NPFH] program is an ADL creation … we bring a lot of expertise, and a lot of personal involvement. It’s very hands on.”
The real “misunderstanding,” then, is that NPFH is not a part of the Anti-Defamation League.
We are asking Lexington NPFH to disassociate from the ADL because ADL continues to engage actively in denial of the Armenian Genocide at the behest of the Turkish government.
Because our local NPFH committee is an ADL-sponsored program using an ADL-registered trademarked name, it is inextricably associated with genocide denial. This is an absurd and contradictory situation for a committee that promotes tolerance and combats hate speech.
Lexington NPFH committee members can continue to do the same valuable work, but without the divisive association with ADL. We believe their dedication is — or should be — to the work and to the Lexington community, not to the ADL. We ask that Ms. Scott and her colleagues reconstitute themselves as an official town human rights commission, as in our neighboring communities. Only then will their efforts truly be for all the residents of Lexington.
Nora Aroyan
Idylwilde Road
Meeting should have been open to all
As one of the “three Armenian-American residents” who were turned away last week from a closed-door meeting between the No Place for Hate committee and representatives of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), I would like to respond to the statement that “the steering committee had already had a meeting with the Armenian community, and now it was [ADL New England Director Andrew] Tarsy and the ADL’s turn.”
Whether or not the committee was legally obligated to hold an open meeting so as to avoid violating open government laws, it was ethically bound to provide an equal opportunity for both perspectives to be presented.
When Lexington Armenian residents went before the NPFH committee, it was in a publicized, open meeting where all views, including those advocating that NPFH remain part of the ADL, were aired.
Yet when the committee met to hear the ADL’s position, it was in an unpublicized, closed-door session in which ADL representatives were able to speak unhindered, with no one from the outside present to challenge any assertions or possible misinformation.
This biased and unfair process did not serve the best interests of the town of Lexington.
Although there are times when closed meetings are necessary, their scope is well defined. In cases of hate crimes — or hate speech such as genocide denial — closed meetings are often called to protect the victim, not the perpetrator.
Trust and confidence in the system are built only in an open setting with mutual respect. To quote U.S. federal appeals court Judge Damon Keith, “Democracies die behind closed doors.”
The No Place for Hate committee must not put the interests of the Anti-Defamation League before those of the residents of Lexington — all the residents of Lexington. And it must provide an open, equitable process to meet the difficult challenges faced by our community.
Laura Boghosian
Russell Road
Lexington Minuteman: Letters to the Editor Published on October 11, 2007
