People of different ethnic and religious backgrounds came together at a vigil yesterday at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Beacon Street to promote peace and understanding across cultural lines and positive alternatives to hate and violence in the wake of Sept. 11.
“From Hate to Hope: Interfaith Vigil Against Hate Violence” brought speakers from many backgrounds, including Muslim, Sikh, Christian and Jewish, to address a crowd of about 100 people.
The goal was to raise “the possibility of letting go of the fears that keep us from being open to those whom we label as ‘other,'” said the Rev. Jennifer Casstevens in her opening remarks.
“We can join hands and we can see a better world,” said State Senator Cynthia Creem, one of several legislators in attendance. She said she envisioned “a world where we will not see hate, we will not see prejudice, we will not see scapegoating.”
Speakers discussed their own experiences after the attacks of Sept. 11.
Sara Karim, a Wellesley College senior, recounted how some fifth grade children refused to make room for her on the T one day. After she sat down anyway, one asked, in an accusatory tone, “Why do you wear that thing on your head?” referring to her traditional Muslim head scarf. Another wanted to know if she knew Osama bin Laden, she said.
After the incident, “I felt people’s eyes on me,” Karim said, “and I’ve never, ever had that feeling before.”
Another speaker, Kavi Raj Singh, of the New England Sikh Study Circle, said there were 240 incidents of biased attacks against Sikhs within one month after Sept. 11, including an Arizona gas station owner who was killed on Sept. 15, 2001.
“The world in which we are living does not understand who we are,” he said, noting Sikhs are particularly targeted for hate crimes because of the turbans and unshorn beards they wear as part of their religion. Singh himself said he was called “Osama bin Laden” while waiting for the subway.
Speakers also discussed their responses to hate. Salma Anam, a Wellesley College junior, said America has “the privilege of being diverse, and with this privilege comes the responsibility to give each culture a human face.”
A representative from the Anti-Defamation League read a letter from Rebecca Silverman, a participant in the ADL’s Youth Leadership Program, in which she said, “we cannot stand by while some are being taught to hate.” The solution, she wrote, was to have interfaith dialogues to help foster understanding.
The vigil also included religious hymns from the different traditions, a passage recited from the Koran and poetry and art created by children as part of the “Outnumber the Hate” program. The program’s goal is to create statements of tolerance numbering greater than the 1,700 acts of anti-Muslim hate that followed Sept. 11.
The vigil was originally scheduled to take place at the Statehouse, but it was moved to the Unitarian Universalist Church on Beacon Street. because Sikhs would not be allowed to carry their kirpans, which are small, symbolic swords, into the Statehouse. Though arrangements were later made to allow kirpans in the Statehouse, the notice was too short to change the venue.
The vigil was presented by a coalition of several groups, including the Massachusetts Interfaith Alliance, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Governor’s Task Force on Hate Crimes. It was endorsed by dozens of legislators and religious figures from around Massachusetts.