U.S. Rep. Moulton Condemns Racial Profiling On North Shore

DANVERS, MA — U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Salem) spoke out Monday on two potentially racially charged interactions on the North Shore last week.

In an apparent reference to an accusation of racial profiling at Connors Farm in Danvers and public comment at a Beverly School Committee in which two residents questioned the credentials of a Black school committee member, Moulton issued a statement Monday saying: "I shouldn't have to say this, but let me be perfectly clear: Racism, racial profiling and any form of discrimination have absolutely no place in our community or anywhere else."

Last week, Danvers town officials publicly apologized to a Cambridge School Committee member after she said she felt her family was racially profiled at Connors Farm over an overfilled bag of apples. Rev. Manikka Bowman said the police officer who responded accused her of "playing the race card" when she objected to being suspected of stealing fruit.

On Wednesday, two Beverly residents challenged the credentials of appointed school committee member Kenann McKenzie, who is Black, during the public comment portion of the committee meeting.

"These experiences are degrading and dehumanizing," Moulton said. "For so long, simply living while Black has caused white people and other groups to view their neighbors as objects of suspicion and scrutiny, unworthy of existing in certain spaces, in these cases at an apple orchard or on a school board.

"When we fail to call it out or dismiss it as the 'race card,' not only are we complicit but we contribute to a culture that questions the motives of those speaking out and demanding the bare minimum: the constitutional rights to which they are entitled by birth."

Danvers officials said they have reached out to the family and have scheduled a meeting to further discuss the incident.

"The town extends its apologies for the unsettling experience the family had at a local business and for the comment made by a Danvers employee," said the joint statement from Town Manager Steve Bartha, Police Chief James Lovell, Select Board Chair Gardner Trask and Human Rights and Inclusion Committee Chair Dutrochet Djoko, adding that "discriminatory behavior has no place in Danvers or any other community."

Bowman said she has since received an apology from Connors Farm ownership.

"Connors Farm has apologized to our family for the way we were treated," she said. "Further, the ownership of the farm has agreed to conduct workshops on understanding racial equity and implicit bias that will be mandatory for all staff at Connors Farm. It has also agreed to refund the money we spent to the Essex County Community Foundation for the specific purpose of supporting their racial equity work."

On Wednesday night, public comment about masks in Beverly public schools derailed when two residents began questioning McKenzie's qualifications for her school committee appointment and made references to whether critical race theory would be taught in the district.

"Too many of us watch viral videos and think what we are seeing could never happen here," Moulton said on Monday. "They happened here twice in one week"

"Every single member of our community, and especially the white members of our community, must now do the hard work of change. We have to look ourselves in the mirror and determine to force change. And when we see incidents like the two that happened this week, we need to not just be outraged, we need to intervene. How many families at the apple orchard or the school board meeting saw what was happening and turned a blind eye or said nothing because it was uncomfortable?"

Mayor Mike Cahill and Beverly School Committee Chair Rachael Abell were quick to shut down the line of questioning of McKenzie, who has a doctorate degree in education, during Wednesday's meeting.

"While respecting, at all times, the First Amendment protections of our citizens, we do not condone personal attacks on our members and administrators," Beverly School Committee Chair Rachael Abell said in a statement to Patch. "The opinions expressed by some members of the public at Wednesday night's meeting do not necessarily represent the values of the Beverly Public Schools or the Beverly School Committee."

"Just this past year, many of us stood together and proclaimed that 'Black Lives Matter,'" Moulton concluded. "It feels good to protest and hold a sign. People got likes and clicks for it, but the act means nothing if we do not actually make changes or insist on consequences when the actions of white people — especially people we know — demean our Black neighbors and friends."

Did you find this article useful? Invite a friend to subscribe to Patch.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

More Patch Coverage: Danvers Apologizes In Racial Profiling Accusation At Connors Farm

Passionate Mask Debate At Beverly School Committee Meeting