I would like to respond to the letter “Decker turns progressive advocacy into legislation, resources and results for the community” (Aug. 19). While there is much to respond to about the accuracy of some of the claims in that statement, I want to address just a few more general points.
First, the writers note that only two of the six signers of a letter in support of Evan MacKay (“Time for a change in Cambridge’s 25th Middlesex,” Aug. 12) live in the 25th District. That may be true, but all of them live in Cambridge. Both Evan and Marjorie have supporters beyond the boundaries of the 25th Middlesex District. I live half a block from the line for that district. I care deeply about Cambridge, the whole city, and want to have representatives in the state Legislature who will fight for Cambridge together. So, although I may not be in the district, I am a Cantabrigian and we all have a vested interest in what happens in this election.
Second, I find it very disturbing that Decker has consistently attacked Evan for being a Harvard graduate student. If this is meant to tap into people’s class resentments, it is misguided. Evan’s identity as an educator and a labor leader has been rooted in their work as first an undergraduate and then a graduate student. Evan has worked hard to organize graduate students who have, for years, been exploited by the richest university in the world. Graduate students make barely a living wage. Organizing these workers – and they are workers – is part of the new wave of progressive labor organizing…