Fighting Hate

 

One of the most dangerous realities of nationalism is the rise in hate crimes. We saw it in England post Brexit (in France well before that) and now in the US post our presidential election.

 

I was in San Jose California watching the San Francisco local news, a month ago. A woman had her car window smashed and a note left in her car telling her to "leave the country" while she was walking in a park because a person mistook the scarf she was wearing because of her chemotherapy for a Hijab. We might be inclined to laugh this off or just shake our head at the stupidity of it all. But that would be mistake. This is exactly how hate takes root and WILL escalate. So what can the tolerant people reading this Newsletter do? Especially the ones who believe "Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men" is more than the inside of Christmas card.

 

Hate speech will start with the rise of ethnic jokes and derogatory comments. If you are white and male you may be exposed to these comments because the person peddling hate thinks you are one of them. You therefore are the first line of defense.

SAY SOMETHING! This is the number one thing to do. Don't just shrug. Don't do that half laugh. Say "Don't do that" "this does not work for me". You can reference your religion if necessary. But speak up.

 

The highly respected Southern Poverty Law Center tracks hate crimes and hate speech. Here are a few facts from them:

 

In the 32 days since Election day there have been 1094 hate related incidents reported. Just about five times as many as you would expect in that period of time normally.  

 

There are 892 recognized Hate groups in the United States.

 

Of the incidents that could be directly related to the Trump Presidency the vast majority were against women.

 

In a survey the SPLC sent out with 2000 responses, nine out of 10 educators have seen a negative impact on students' mood and behavior following the election.

 

The escalation is from talk to eventual violence. There was a stabbing at the Islamic Center in Simi Valley (10 miles from our office) last week. With this incident and many others that have already happened violence is already taking place. But it is much easier to confront when it has not escalated to physical violence.

 

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing .       Edmund Burke

 

At a minimum educate yourself. I was shocked to see the number of hate groups here in California and how many of the Hate incidents happened here. Sobering. I have plenty to do in my back yard. How about you?

 

Here is the link to the Southern Poverty Law Center: https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate