Six years ago, Arm in Arm was founded after antisemitic and anti-Islamic graffiti were found in Harvard. With a mission to promote and uphold a safe, inclusive social climate that values diversity and fosters respect, we believe that through awareness and education we can build greater understanding of our diverse backgrounds.
Unfortunately, we are witnessing some of the same hate we saw six years ago, this time in a neighboring town. Last weekend in Stow, a couple came home to find tires slashed on their two cars, one car vandalized with an antisemitic slur carved into it, and several parts of their home burned.
This is an outrage and we cannot let it go unnamed and unchallenged. Once again, it is time that we speak out, supporting those who have been marginalized and targeted, for as Martin Luther King Jr. said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
Remembering, too, the words of Martin Niemoller: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
We hope that by speaking out against such hateful acts, others will stand with us and speak out too.
Sharon Cronin and Sarah Saleh
on behalf of Arm in Arm
