Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP Gloria Timmons, a Nashua Board of Education member and head of the Nashua NAACP chapter, listens to speakers before delivering her own remarks to the nearly 200 people who turned out for Wednesday's New Hampshire United Against Hate rally at Greeley Park. (Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP)

NASHUA – Virtually every person of color who walked onto the Dr. Adrian Levesque Sr. Memorial Bandshell at Greeley Park last week had at least one experience in common to share with the large group of people gathered on the lawn in front of them.

“I’ve been told to ‘go home … go back home’ but this is my home,” state Rep. Maria Perez, a former longtime Nashua resident now living in, and representing, Milford in the State House.

Such hate-filled comments are all too familiar to Gloria Timmons, who leads the Nashua chapter of the NAACP and serves on the Nashua Board of Education.

“‘Go home … go back to Africa, back to where you came from,'” Timmons said as she took the microphone from the previous speaker and issued an emotional appeal to her fellow citizens to call out racism, anti-Semitism, and other acts of hate no matter how seemingly insignificant a comment or act might be.

“If you hear a (racist) joke and don’t say anything, you’re part of the problem. If you just stand by and watch while someone is attacked because of their color or religion, you become part of the problem,” Timmons said to scattered cheers and applause.

Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP Some of the nearly 200 people who turned out for Wednesday's New Hampshire United Against Hate rally at Greeley Park hold posters and flags while listening to the speakers. (Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP)

The rally, which organizers said came together fairly quickly thanks to numerous volunteers, gave local and state office-holders, social justice advocates and, perhaps most importantly, community members of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds, a forum to promote diversity and denounce the recent uptick in race- and hate-based diatribes and acts in the wake of the online attacks against Nashua resident and Democratic state Representative Manny Espitia.

“Manny is strong,” said Dan Weeks, a local businessman and social justice advocate who spoke briefly Wednesday.

“But not everyone is as strong as Manny,” Weeks said, going on to criticize those state legislators who insist that “systemic racism does not exist in N.H.”

“The governor has said as much,” Weeks said, referring to Gov. Chris Sununu, who in news reports this week denounced the term “systemic racism,” which he criticized for “having a lot of implicit biases in itself.”

Weeks also noted Sununu’s opposition, and that of most all Republican state legislators, to the so-called “divisive concepts” references in the state budget.

Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP Organizers and other attendees at Wednesday's New Hampshire United Against Hate rally at Greeley Park listen to state Rep. Maria Perez, Democrat of Milford, who was one of the speakers to address the gathering. (Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP)

The roughly one-hour rally drew an estimated 200 people, who either sat in lawn chairs or on blankets or stood in small groups on the grassy incline that rises from the bandshell to Concord Street.

Many carried signs, posters or flags, and some took cell phone photos or videos.

As did Weeks, former state Rep. and former state Sen. Melanie Levesque, of Brookline, mentioned some of the more controversial legislation now under discussion in Concord.

She urged residents to become involved in the political process by contacting their state representatives to weigh in on the issues, especially those that, if passed, would likely reverse the progress that’s been gained in race relations.

Levesque introduced state Rep. Renny Cushing, Democrat of Hampton and the House minority leader, who drove to Nashua to take part in the rally.

Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP Various flags, signs and posters were prevalent among attendees at Wednesday's New Hampshire United Against Hate rally at Nashua's Greeley Park. Speaking from the band shell stage is Zandra Rice Hawkins, executive director of Granite State Progress, and one of several speakers to address the gathering. (Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP)

Cushing, who has been battling health issues, was greeted by a robust round of applause as he stood and waved to the crowd.

As for the incidents that inspired community leaders to organize the rally, they began when a white Supremacist group called “NSC-131” claimed responsibility for racist and anti-Semitic graffiti found painted on murals along the Rail Trail that runs parallel to West Hollis Street in downtown Nashua.

When Espitia, one of three legislators who represent Nashua’s Ward 4, became aware of the graffiti – which included phrases such as “Keep New England white,” “Defend New England” and “Death to Israel” – he publicly denounced the acts on social media.

In response, the white supremacist group fired back just a day later.

“Anyone with a name like ‘Manny Espitia’, State Rep or not, has no moral right to throw shade at any true (White) Nationalist New Hampshirite,” the group wrote, according to a news report.

Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP State Rep. Renny Cushing, Democrat of Hampton and the House minority leader, was introduced to a round of applause at Wednesday's New Hampshire United Against Hate rally at Nashua's Greeley Park. (Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP)

Espitia, the group wrote, “has no right to be here,” and referred to him as “an occupier here and the days of these types trampling on New England are coming to an end.”

Espitia, undaunted by the racist rants, said he encourages Nashuans, and Granite staters, to remain vigilant in the face of racism – a message he shared at Wednesday’s rally.

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