Last October, three members of the Sharon Affirmting Diversity/Celebrating Community Committee (SADCCC) in Sharon, Massachusetts, including a staff editor for the Journal, were interviewed by producer of Sharon Community Television. Sharon had already dedicated itself to being a "No Place for Hate" community. But the townspeople's intentions were being tested by a recent leaflet campaign by a hate group.
Max Pearlstein: When antisemitic and racist leaflets littered the lawns of Sharon recently, residents responded with a candlelight vigil in Post Office Square as a sign of solidarity. The event was organized by the Sharon Affirming Diversity/Celebrating Community Committee, which came into being in 1998, following attacks of vandalism at Temple Adath Sharon and Temple Sinai. David Blocker is the group's founder.
David Blocker: I invited myself to the meeting of the clergy council at Our Lady of Sorrows rectory in January of 1999. There were some people from the Antidefamation League (ADL) there, as well as the main clergy in town. They were talking about formulating a response to the incidents, and I put forth the thought that it would be great to use this impetus as an opportunity to start something ongoing. Most of our efforts initially were to organize a rally against hate in March to respond to those incidents. But we were also doing some long-range planning. We wanted people to come to the rally and be ready to jump into other activities. So we organized some interfaith meetings. That was an obvious starting point, given that the clergy was a key player here.
