Founded in 1993, the Arlington Human Rights Commission (AHRC) exists to advance issues related to the fair and equal treatment of Town residents and to address complaints arising out of these issues. Central to the AHRC's mission is to work collaboratively with other Arlington community groups to celebrate the ever-changing makeup of our Town, to emphasize through educational outreach the dangers of intolerance, and to encourage and bring about mutual understanding and respect among all people within the Town.

 

AHRC focuses on eliminating prejudice, intolerance, bigotry, unlawful discrimination, threats, coercion, and intimidation on the basis of an individual’s race, ethnicity, color, religious views, national origin, sex, gender identity or expression, citizenship, age, ancestry, family/marital status, sexual orientation, disability, source of income, and military status. The commission strives to reach these goals by: educating the Arlington community through programs that celebrate diversity; working with Town government, the school department, town commissions and boards to promote tolerance, mutual respect, and the peaceful enjoyment of life in our community; responding to complaints by Town residents who believe that their human rights have been violated; initiating investigations where unlawful discrimination may have occurred; and offering resolutions to conflicts between Town residents.

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Over the past 30+ years, the AHRC has found many ways to support the Arlington community:

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• Hold monthly public open meetings, usually with an opportunity for community input​

• Receive, investigate, and address incidents and complaints

• Work with APD and APS to address and track reported incidents

• Work with APD and APS to address larger issues such as dating violence and bullying

• Provide liaisons to the Middle School's Building Respect Task Force, the Superintendent's Diversity Task Group, METCO, school principals, etc.

• Meet the community at our booth at Town Day

• Meet the community by tabling at the Farmers Market, National Night Out, etc.

• Meet the community at virtual and in-person coffee chats

• Publish brochures about our services, public accommodations, assisting victims of hate crimes, how to report incidents, Arlington's policies towards immigrants rights, etc.

• Sponsor Arlington's Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday celebration

• Sponsor Arlington's Juneteenth celebrations

• Sponsor panel discussions, Arlington Dialogues, and Community Conversations on issues like diversity in public schools, affirmative action, racial profiling, affordable housing, gay marriage, the Patriot Act, Holocaust history, the Armenian Genocide, genocide in Darfur, racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare, bullying and harassment, separation of church and state, indigenous perspectives in Arlington, religious acceptance, etc.

• Sponsor film screenings

• Sponsor lectures at the Arlington Historical Society

• Sponsor public cultural events organized by community members

• Sponsor school curriculum for diversity awareness, tolerance, etc.

• Work with Robbins and school libraries on educational programming

• Support diverse and inclusive hiring of town employees and police officers

• Support warrant articles to increase female employment in town, change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day, add Juneteenth to the town calendar, etc.

• Support Massachusetts legislation and court decisions on topics such as gay marriage

• Support refugee programs, such as the Sudanese Lost Boys Project

• Support Arlington-Teosinte Sister City Project

• Meet and coordinate with other town HRCs, including through the MAHRC Coalition

• Coordinate with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) to investigate cases

• Develop questions for the annual town survey to measure intimidation, sense of safety, etc.

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If you have more ideas, please contact us!