George Floyd’s May 25, 2020 murder summoned Americans to a long-overdue discussion on systemic racism, white privilege and racial inequity. That summons was issued again in Lynn last week (Item, July 13) with candidates for municipal office talking about racial-profiling incidents that should embarrass, if not sicken, every resident of this great city.
Veteran City Councilor-at-Large Hong Net, a survivor of the Cambodian genocide who kept himself alive with courage and determination, recounted how people spat at him and called the police when he campaigned in past elections.
“All I did was smile at them,” said Net.
Coco Alinsug, who was born in the Philippines, said he received a phone call from a woman who told the Ward 3 Council candidate, “You immigrants are sucking the system.”
Ward 4 Council candidate Natasha Megie-Maddrey is making her fourth run for municipal office and said her experiences during previous campaigns included a resident calling the police after Megie-Maddrey knocked on her door.
Racial profiling is the reason mayoral candidate Keith Lee gave for his decision to drop out of the mayoral race.
No political observer was going to handicap Lee into a frontrunner’s spot in the mayor’s race, but that’s not the point. When someone exercises the right in a democracy to run for elected office and then drops out citing racial profiling, perhaps it’s time for a serious discussion on racism.
In an academic study available for viewing online, David E. Broockman, a University of California professor, and U.S. Council of Economic Advisers economist Evan J. Soltas observed that racial profiling flourishes during elections in the absence of detailed information about candidates and their views on campaign issues.
“…discrimination could be greater in other elections where voters may have less information or weaker preferences,” the scholars concluded.
Megie-Maddrey, Alinsug and Lee may not be every voter’s definition of the best person to serve the city in elected office. But they deserve credit for running for office, and the challenges they face in campaigning should not include racial profiling.
It is the voter’s responsibility to learn about candidates. It is every Lynn resident’s responsibility to confront and banish racism from the city.
As summer turns into fall, municipal candidates will attend forums and answer voters’ questions. Racial-profiling anecdotes recited by Net, Lee, Councilor-at-Large candidate Marven Hyppolite and other candidates point to a need for a forum on race in Lynn.
