LYNN — Rabbi Yossi Lipsker’s father came to America from Russia at 6 years old.
The traumas of escaping the Soviet Union followed him into adulthood, said Lipsker. The fear of police officers and others in uniform runs deep in his father because when escaping persecution, those in uniform were the bad guys.
He has watched his father work through his trauma forever, but watching it as antisemitism grows is “heartbreaking,” Lipsker said.
“Antisemitism in the United States is not a Jewish problem, it’s an American problem,” Lipsker, of Chabad of the North Shore, said. “Like racism and any other form of bigotry, it’s a rot and decay at the core of our society. And if we don’t shore up the foundational platforms of our society, then we all end up sinking.”
Carolina Trujillo has been an American citizen for more than 10 years, and has been living in the country for 25 years. She immigrated from Colombia and has since become the publisher of Essex Media Group’s La Voz, the executive director at Citizens Inn, a member of Gov. Maura Healy’s Advisory Council on Latino Empowerment, and more.
“I’ve been here 25 years contributing since I got here and yet, working twice as hard to be believed to be half as good,” Trujillo said.
Trujillo and Lipsker were two of the speakers at the Forum on Prejudice Tuesday evening, which was hosted by the Greater Lynn Bar Association, organized by Attorney James J. Carrigan, and moderated by Michael Jalbert, the head of the history department at St. Mary’s Lynn.
Panelists of different ethnic backgrounds, nationalities, religions, and sexual orientation spoke about the effects of prejudice at the Lynn Museum.
Lynn District Court Chief Justice Ina Howard-Hogan was the keynote speaker at Tuesday’s forum. Implicit bias, she said, is something that everybody has.
She remembered that as a young child, she didn’t think about the differences between her and her friends. She didn’t think about the color of their skin or their socio-economic status because to her, they were just her friend.
As kids get older, they take what they hear from their parents or other adults and form biases, she said.
Asking questions and engaging in meaningful conversations is what needs to happen to challenge prejudices, she said.
“Even if we don’t agree, that’s okay,” Howard-Hogan said, “Folks are entitled to their opinions. We want to be open and honest, it’s not going to help any of us to tell people what you think they want to hear. You feel a certain way for a reason and it’s okay to explore them.”
Educating yourself and doing research is essential, she said.
“Remember, what you choose to consume will affect your implicit bias,” Howard-Hogan said. “So if you want to learn about an individual, truly learn about an individual, do your research.”
Essex Media Group Senior Graphic Designer Emilia Sun spoke about what it was like to move to the U.S. from China about five years ago.
A lot of hate incidents go unreported because the victims are afraid of retaliation, language barriers, and distrust law enforcement, she said.
“I myself have experienced this kind of hate. About a year ago, I was at Stop & Shop in Lynn with my 15-month-old daughter when a drunk man yelled at us, ‘Go back to your country.’ He even threatened to kill my baby, and no one around us stopped him,” Sun said.
After this incident she felt angry and scared. She no longer wanted to live in the U.S.
“But I’m here to ask you, what are you willing to do to make a change?” Sun said. “I ask that you and your family learn about Asian American history, culture, and contributions to society.”
North Shore NAACP President Kenann McKenzie-DeFranza said she didn’t know what poverty or racism were until she moved to the United States from Georgetown, Guyana.
Her first encounter of prejudice came when her mother attempted to enroll her in school.
“I just remember the conversation going something like, ‘But people from third world countries, we don’t put them in their grade, they always go back a grade,’” McKenzie-DeFranza said.
After that, her mother got a second job so she could be enrolled in a private school.
“Many of these narratives are built in and codified and reinforced by the things we consume, the things we say to one another and around one another and to our young children,” McKenzie-DeFranza said.
Attorney Anne Gugino Carrigan spoke about what it is like to be a woman in the professional world. She said that for many people, concepts like power and aggressiveness take on negative connotations when associated with women.
She talked about the career of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the challenges she faced as a woman.
“She was never once invited into the office of the speaker of the house until she became speaker,” Gugino Carrigan said.
Lynn Ward 3 City Councilor Coco Alinsug spoke about being LGBTQ+. He is the first openly-gay city councilor in Lynn and the first Filipino-American city councilor in New England.
“I came to this country to be myself, as a gay man, and not being out in the Philippines, it was very difficult. So I said, ‘I will come to America to live my life as an open gay man,’” Alinsug said.
While many have started to accept the LGBTQ+ community, a lot of work still needs to be done, he said.
“In order for us to move forward is to acknowledge that there’s a problem, but at the same time, you need to be at that table and having that conversation,” Alinsug said.
Lynn English High School senior Christina Adeoye moved to the United States from Nigeria at the age of 11. The official language in Nigeria is English, but she said that doesn’t stop people from commenting on how good her English is.
“Those types of comments made me feel less than or uneducated,” Adeoye.
Over the years, she has learned to speak up for herself when comments like that are made. It is important to speak up and teach all generations about respect, she said.
Other speakers included Attorney Mario Capano, who discussed the history of prejudice that Italian immigrants faced; Edward Calnan, who discussed prejudice against Irish people in the past; and Mayor Jared Nicholson. Fatima El Hali spoke about what it is like to be a Muslim woman in the U.S., and challenges her children have faced because of their religion and clothing.
