Countering Hate
Lynn’s Center for Citizenship and Civility Hosts Annual Holocaust Remembrance Event
By Spencer A. Backman, Global News Editor with contributions from Marichi Aria, Lisset Guillen and Nelson Mallick
On April 4, several high-profile advocates in the fight against hate speech and violence came to Lynn University to engage in a panel as part of the fifth Annual Holocaust Remembrance Event.
Dr. Megan Squire, Deputy Director for Analytics at the Southern Poverty Law Center, Dr. Justin Houston, Head of the Civil Rights Division for the FBI Miami Office and Sarah Emmons, Anti-Defamation League Florida Regional Director joined Lynn Distinguished Professor Dr. Robert P. Watson in a panel discussion about the recent rise in hate speech around the world and ways to counter it. Panelists noted that the rise in hate speech has been particularly apparent in Florida.
“Major organizations like the Anti-Defamation League, Southern Poverty Law Center and FBI have been tracking incidents of racially motivated hate for many years,” said Watson. “The numbers had been declining each year until around 2016, when they spiked, and they remain at record levels today. Bringing leaders from such reputable organizations to our campus provides an unparalleled opportunity for our students to engage in a dialogue about important issues facing them.”
The guest speakers toured a replica of a cattle car, windowless train cars once used to transport Jews and other “undesirables” to concentration camps during the Holocaust. The cattle car was brought to campus several days before the event and was open for students to tour.
“I think as we just saw in the cattle car, it’s important because we have to remember the atrocities that happened,” said Houston. “If we tend to just let it go in the dark like they talk in the presentation, we will allow for the opportunity to see that people may emerge and say, well, it didn’t happen and that will just allow history to repeat itself.”
During the panel, the guests talked about how the truth can get blurry in the digital age.
“Facts are facts. As a former professor and a current scholar in the field, truth matters. It’s really disturbing and kind of scary actually the way ideas like Holocaust denial, and even other truth evasive ideas are taking hold, so I’m very concerned about that.”
While misinformation and Holocaust denialism were a part of the discussion, much of the focus was on what can be done to counter hate and respond to violent extremism, antisemitism, racism and Islamophobia.
“We’ve gotten better at reporting. We’ve got better at our partnerships, so that (data) will show a spike (in hate crimes), but just being able to show that they (victims) have allies in these communities, and we do that by doing our outreach, so they (victims) know that that law enforcement or our NGOs are on their side,” said Houston.
No one organization can do it all: The ADL, SPLC and FBI all work closely to counter hate.
“I always think about the fight against hate, no one organization is going to solve hate or anti-semitism, which we focus on here at the ADL,” said Emmons. “We need partnerships like other nonprofit organizations, certainly law enforcement and the FBI to partner with us in that fight. I think it’s a multifaceted and whole of society approach that’s going to counter hate. So, we’re very focused on that. At the ADL, we do a lot of different education programs, you know. We always say, kids are not born hating others, right? It’s learned somewhere along the way. So, we try to help students learn something different, which is to be kind and respectful of other students.”
Dr. Squire had advice for young people looking to get involved based on her experience in activism.
“Look in your local community, so look close to home,” said Squire. “That always worked pretty well for me because it makes the things that you’re thinking about and fighting for very personal, too. And then those wins you can apply to the larger, bigger, maybe more abstract fights later on.”
*Quotes provided by Megan Squire.
