In the closing weeks toward next Tuesday’s special election, there has been a lot of talk and electronic messaging about incidents of hateful speech, and there have been calls for candidates to come out with statements denouncing such incidents.
Among the three candidates for the Ward 2 City Council seat, two emailed supporters yesterday on this topic, and the third released a statement this evening. Here, in order of receipt — and also alphabetical order — are statements by Bryan Barash, Tarik Lucas, and David Micley. Also available in this PDF.
Two of the statements speak of uniting people “we are better off engaging in dialog”, “despite strong disagreements….we all want the same thing.”
One speaks of fighting.
I’ll be voting for Tarik.
All of the candidates are to be commended on their statements.
In particular, I want to thank Tarik Lucas for following the standard and teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. who said…
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
I agree that all of the statements are great to see.
(and I don’t find it at all objectionable for a candidate to say they are “fighting for Newton.” Context matters.)
To put in perspective, its hard for non POC to understand how much hate speech, racism and bigotry African Americans have to ensure everyday of their lives..
Not from a computer screen but literally in front of their face. Every.single.day
I would trust Tarik on issues with dealing with hate speech than the other candidates
As I read it, Byran Barash is still airing grievances and talking about how his opponents have lied about him, vs Tarik Lucas’ email is completely gracious and on a high road. David Micley’s message was also very good
Agreed. I liked Tarik’s statement on this-
I really wish Bryan had kept it positive. I like him and agree with him on most matters of policy. The Save Nonantum ads were distasteful, but instead of going high and trying to win people over, his campaign spent a lot of ammunition discrediting Save Nonantum. And instead of turning an unfortunate and intolerant email from a self-described city elder into a teachable moment, his campaign forwarded it to his political allies, and major democratic office holders across the state, so he could in turn retweet all their expressions of outrage at intolerant Newton.
It would have been nice to see a more traditional political campaign, with a little more dialogue, so we could get a better feel about how the candidates might govern if elected. But all these grievances have left a bad taste in my mouth.
LDS,
Its called “going viral”… its all the rage these days. Maybe he wanted them “cancelled”
A preview of what’s to come if he wins?
First Newton went viral with alleged death threats, then it was flags in the background of a zoom debate, followed by an intolerant email and a broadside against the mushes.
Not exactly a job well done.
Funny how folks can see different events in different ways. The reason why the statements are different is that only one of the candidates is under attack. Don’t believe me? Read the other threads. And it is the supporters of Tarik who are doing the attacking. I’m glad Tarik made his statement. But honestly, it was the obvious political move as well; decry the hatred, while politically benefiting from it.
There has been a shadow campaign of innuendo and falsehoods in this race. I thought the initial race between Emily and Bryan was unpleasant and there was clearly no love lost between the candidates, but this has been far worse. I don’t think Tarik is organizing it or is involved in it at all. He has always seemed to me to be a great person. But I think his campaign has been embraced by some folks who feel so strongly about Bryan that they are crossing lines of decency and honesty along the way. It is a small portion of Tarik’s supporters, but they are making this particular election one of the worst Newton has seen.
And I refuse to “both sides” this particular issue. You might not agree with Bryan on the issues, but I haven’t seen any of his supporters say anything negative about Tarik at all. Or David. And the most they’ve said about John Oliver is that he used to be a republican (which can be verified, and isn’t a lie. Also, who cares.).
When you ask folks disparaging Bryan for back-up, they ask for privacy, they state they were told it by people they trust, they claim everyone is saying whatever attack they believe in, and how could it not be true with so many reputations on the line? And the whisper campaign is in full swing throughout it all.
None of this is worth this level of negativity folks. It is a local election. As someone said in a another thread, never have folks cared more about something that matters so little. Take a step back. No matter who wins, things will be just fine. The candidate(s) you are presenting as evil just isn’t that way. The City Council will continue to be dysfunctional and overly burdened with meetings. These folks are all going to volunteer for the honor of late nights and angry voters.
@Doug Bryan’s quote is “The Newton I’m fighting for is…”. Who is he fighting? Why use aggressive language?
It is also true that this is a local special election where the candidate will be elected to serve for nine months which includes the slower summer months. Whoever prevails will need to mount a campaign for next November. Perhaps they will run unopposed or perhaps the losing candidates will choose to run again, especially when turnout will be higher since the mayor, all city councilors, and the school committee will be on the ballot. There is no guarantee those who are elected next week will still be in office next January.
Lucia, that’s advocacy language. Aggressive? Don’t agree. Hillary Clinton literally had “Fight Song” as her campaign theme song in 2016. You know…”This is my fight song, Take back my life song…” Ugh, now it is stuck in my head.
Check the websites of other candidates for office. It is common language. Advocate, fight for, fight against, push for, etc.
Would you prefer “vociferously oppose”? LOL. Is that aggressive?
@fig you said, “The reason why the statements are different is that only one of the candidates is under attack.”
That seems to run counter to Tarik’s statement that: “I have received hateful emails during the course of the campaign.”
Not all examples of hate speech are publicized.
I’m impressed by the thoughtful, positive tone of Tarik’s statement. For me, it demonstrates how Tarik will be a strong leader for racial justice and tolerance on our City Council.
Is it not obvious that “ fighting for a cause’…. continues to be a commonly used phrase?
Or are we so sensitized, polarized or so literal now that some need to be critical of Bryan for using this phrase? May we find some balance and perspective.