The latest call for embattled Ward 3 Councilor Anthony DiPierro to resign his office has come from the Mystic Valley Area Branch of the NAACP. DiPierro has admitted having racist memes on his Instagram account.
The area NAACP branch serves the communities of Arlington, Everett, Malden, Medford, Winchester and Woburn.
Zane T. Crute, President of the Mystic Valley Branch of the NAACP stated, “we want to ensure that our elective officials are held accountable. We expected more of Councilor DiPierro.” Crute has led the area organization since 2017. The following statement was sent to the media and Everett elected officials:
The Mystic Valley Area Branch of the NAACP, which covers six communities north of Boston, including Everett, is writing to demand the resignation of City Councilor Anthony DiPierro for his recent racist communications. He can no longer lead the diverse city of Everett in any capacity. We stand with members of the community in demanding that he to be held accountable for his behavior.
The facts as we understand them: Everett City Councilor Anthony DiPierro shared some despicable racist memes and text messages several months ago with some of his fellow City Councilors. While Councilor DiPierro has apologized, there is currently an investigation underway by Cathy Draine, the City of Everett Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. It appears that there were several additional racist communications with DiPierro and several other City Councilors, many of which contained the use of the N-word. His complete lack of respect for Black Americans cannot be tolerated. His frequent and consistent use of the N-word in his communications is systemic and we have no reason to believe that his apologies will change how he feels about members of the African Diaspora.
It is important to put this incident in a larger context: Everett has undergone a dramatic demographic transformation in the last few decades. Where twenty years ago, Everett’s non-white population was approximately 25%, today it is approximately 65% of the total population, and 80% of the school population is non-white. This diversity is not represented in Everett City Hall or clearly in the attitudes of some of Everett’s elected officials. Everett currently has the potential to make changes that could transform the city to reflect the diversity of its population. Paramount in working towards this transformation is removing from leadership positions those who hinder progress through racist speech or behavior. The culture of Everett needs to change to reflect the city’s diversity and Councilor DiPierro is certainly not a catalyst for the kind of change needed.
A person cannot claim to be a leader of a community while at the same time expressing or tolerating racist and contemptuous attitudes that are an insult to a majority of the population that the person is claiming to lead. Councilor DiPierro has lost all credibility as a leader and should step down immediately. Should he refuse to do so, we strongly encourage and implore candidates of change to challenge in future elections Mr. DiPierro and any other officials who stand in solidarity with him.
Zane T. Crute
President, Mystic
Valley Area Branch
of the NAACP