Hi!
Since we were talking about white supremists groups and hate crimes - I
forwarded this message I read from another list - 10 Ways to Combat Hate.
Thanks!
Angela
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Subject: Alternatives to Censorship
>
>Here are some ways to combat hate speech, rather than censorship.
>
>Taken from the Southern Poverty Law Center web site:
>http://www.splcenter.org/klanwatch/kw-3.html
>
>[For fair use. No permission to reprint is implied.]
>=================
>Ten Ways to Fight Hate
>
>A Community Response Guide to Hate Crime and Hate Groups
>
>Headline: Hate comes in many forms.
>
>It can be stark --- from anti-Semitic graffiti and the racist chanting of
>Klansmen to brutal assaults by Skinheads. It can also be subtle --- from
>the reasoned racism of modern neo-Nazi leaders to the pseudo-
>intellectualism of those who claim that the Holocaust did not occur.
>But whatever form it takes, an expression of hatred usually causes an
>intense reaction in a community.
>
>Although some people argue that hate crimes and hate groups should be
>ignored, many others look for ways to express their opposition and to send
>an unequivocal message that racism and bigotry will not be tolerated in
>their community.
>
>What follows are 10 ways to fight hate, drawn from Klanwatch's experience
>monitoring white supremacist groups and hate crimes and from successful
>methods used by communities throughout the country.
>
>They are not the only ways to fight hatred, but they are a place to start.
>
>1. STAY AWAY FROM WHITE SUPREMACIST EVENTS
>
>2. ORGANIZE AN ALTERNATIVE EVENT
>
>3. DON'T TRY TO STOP WHITE SUPREMACIST EVENTS
>
>4 PLACE ADS IN THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER
>
>5. FORM COMMUNITY ANTI-RACISM GROUPS
>
>6. RESPOND QUICKLY TO HATE CRIMES WITH A SHOW OF UNITY
>
>7. FOCUS ON VICTIM ASSISTANCE
>
>8. RESEARCH HATE CRIME LAWS IN YOUR COMMUNITY AND STATE
>
>9. ENCOURAGE MULTI- CULTURAL EDUCATION IN LOCAL SCHOOLS
>
>10. FIND UNIQUE WAYS TO SHOW OPPOSITION
>
>
>1. STAY AWAY FROM WHITE SUPREMACIST EVENTS
>
>When hate groups announce plans to march or rally, people are often unsure
>about the proper response.
>
>It is tempting, but counterproductive and often dangerous, to confront
>white supremacists at their public events.
>
>The principal reason is that violence by counterprotesters is becoming
>commonplace at white supremacist rallies and marches. Some anti-racist
>demonstrators travel from rally to rally, actually hoping to provoke
>violent confrontations with the racists. Others may attend the event
>simply to protest peacefully, only to find themselves enraged by the
>inflammatory rhetoric and caught up in the violence.
>
>White supremacists are skilled at turning such situations to their
>advantage, gloating that the violence came from protesters, not the hate
>group.
>In Denver, violence marred the 1992 Martin Luther King holiday when angry
>protesters at a Klan rally attacked each other, bystanders and police. One
>anti-Klan demonstrator was seriously injured by another counterprotester,
>and three police officers were hurt. Twenty-one people were arrested.
>Order was restored only after police used nightsticks, tear gas and Mace.
>
>At a neo-Nazi rally in Auburn, New York, in September 1993, enraged
>protesters in a crowd of about 2,000 attacked the racists and pelted
>police with rocks. The crowd also chased the white supremacists' cars and
>threw bricks and bottles. Two counterdemonstrators were arrested.
>
>Two Auburn residents, one a Jewish man, rescued a female neo-Nazi after
>she was struck in the face and kicked. Some of the counterdemonstrators
>threatened to kill another man who helped the woman.
>
>Finally, it is important to remember that the media often cannot
>distinguish between curiosity seekers and the hate group's sympathizers
>when estimating the crowd at white supremacist rallies. Peaceful
>protesters can easily be mistaken for hate group supporters.
>
>All this can be avoided by simply staying away. Then the event, attended
>only by white supremacists, will lose much of its appeal to the media.
>
>2. ORGANIZE AN ALTERNATIVE EVENT
>
>To discourage attendance at racist events, communities should organize a
>multicultural gathering that encourages family participation. Ideally, it
>should be staged in a different part of the city, at or near the time of
>the hate group's rally or march.
>
>Examples of such events include the following:
>
>ï In Columbus, Ohio, citizens created a Unity Day in response to an
>October 1993 visit by the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Hundreds of people
>participated in activities that reflected the city's diversity. The
>program featured rap music, traditional Hebrew songs, a school's Spanish
>choir, the city's opera and a gay men's chorus. The city used grant money
>>to fund most of the event.
>
>In Pulaski, Tennessee, the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan and the site of
>numerous Klan rallies, residents have countered these events by
>emphasizing the community's unity and its disgust for the Klan.
>
>On the day of the Klan rally, downtown merchants have closed their
>businesses and staged a brotherhood march that is now an annual event.
>
>In Colorado, a ski resort offered discounts on lift tickets and rentals as
>incentives to keep people away from a 1992 Klan rally.
>
>Some communities plan ecumenical services where people can express a
>united front against hate. Such services should incorporate all of the
>town's religions.
>
>In Wallingford, Connecticut, townspeople held ecumenical services in
>December 1993 in response to a series of hate crimes.
>
>And in Texas, a woman invited 35 churches to a prayer vigil on the same
>night as a Klan cross-lighting ceremony. "I figured prayer was what these
>people needed, and a whole bunch of it would be better," she said.
>
>3. DON'T TRY TO STOP WHITE SUPREMACIST EVENTS
>
>People often try to keep white supremacists out of their area by
>pressuring city officials to deny parade or rally permits.
>
>This tactic is seldom effective. White supremacist groups have won scores
>of lawsuits on First Amendment grounds against communities that attempted
>to block their public events.
>
>Ultimately, the event will be held anyway, and the furor surrounding
>attempts to stop it will only gain more publicity for the hate group.
>
>4. PLACE ADS IN THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER
>
>When hate crimes occur, citizens should consider buying an advertisement
>in the local newspaper.
>
>The ad should emphasize unity and support for the crime victim as well as
>the target group to which the victim belongs. It should also convey the
>message that hate crimes will not be tolerated in the community.
>
>Newspaper ads can also counter the publicity that hate groups attract.
>
>These ads should denounce the organization's bigoted views and should run
>on or before the day of the white supremacist event.
>
>5. FORM COMMUNITY ANTI-RACISM GROUPS
>
>Another way to effectively oppose hate groups and hate crime is to form a
>citizens' anti-racism group. The organization should be composed of people
>from every race, religion, and culture in the community, including gays
>and lesbians, who are frequent targets of hate crime and hate groups.
>
>The group should stress cooperation and harmony and discourage
>confrontational tactics.
>
>Some anti-racism groups, formed in response to a particular racial
>incident, hate crime or hate group, have found ways to sustain their sense
>of unity and purpose indefinitely.
>
>One such group, the Friendly Supper Club in Montgomery, Alabama, was
>founded to ease racial tensions after a violent incident involving city
>police and black residents.
>
>With the goal of improving the city's strained race relations, black and
>white residents began meeting over dinner at an inexpensive restaurant to
>discuss issues affecting the city. There was only one rule---each guest
>was asked to bring a person of another race to dinner. The Friendly Supper
>Club has been active since 1983.
>
>6. RESPOND QUICKLY TO HATE CRIMES WITH A SHOW OF UNITY
>
>Concerned citizens should quickly put aside racial, cultural and religious
>differences and band together to fight the effects of hate crime on a
>community.
>
>In some areas, non-Jews have joined their Jewish neighbors to scrub
>swastikas and graffiti off synagogues. Elsewhere, white and black
>residents have gathered at black churches to remove racial slurs and to
>rebuild black churches burned by racists.
>
>In mostly white Castro Valley, California, residents organized a unity
>march in September 1993 after a black teacher's car was vandalized with
>Klan slogans.
>
>In February 1997, in response to a spate of vicious hate activity on the
>California State University campus at San Marcos, university employees
>committed to making donations to an anti-racist organization each time>
>>such activity occurs. They made their first donation to the Southern
>Poverty Law Center.
>
>And in Palm Springs, California, a group of high school students wore
>ribbons they had made to symbolize unity following a brawl between blacks
>and Hispanics in October 1993.
>
>"We're trying to show the students who are causing a problem that we're
>not going to stand by and let that happen," the school's student body
>president said. "If enough people come together, we can overcome this."
>
>7. FOCUS ON VICTIM ASSISTANCE
>
>Hate crime victims often feel isolated, so it is important to let them
>know that their community cares about them.
>
>"Network of Neighbors," a volunteer organization formed in 1992 in
>Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, offers emotional support to hate crime victims.
>
>Commander Gwen Elliott, head of the Pittsburgh police department's hate
>crime unit, said the group offers a much-needed service.
>
>"A lot of times, (hate crime victims) don't know how the court system
>works. They need support and help in dealing with their anger, so they
>don't go out and do something irrational," Elliott said.
>
>Since hate crimes are not often solved quickly, volunteers should
>encourage victims to be patient and cooperative with law enforcement
>officers handling the investigation.
>
>8. RESEARCH HATE CRIME LAWS IN YOUR COMMUNITY AND STATE
>
>Some states and cities have broad hate crime laws that cover a wide range
>of incidents. Others have limited statutes that allow only data collection
>or cover only specific acts of vandalism.
>
>In many states, if a bias crime is prosecuted under a hate crime statute,
>additional prison time or stiffer fines can be imposed.
>
>Five states have no hate crime laws. In those states, a racial slur
>written on a black family's house is treated as simple vandalism.
>
>If a community does not have a hate crime law or the existing statute is
>weak, citizens should urge their elected officials to support strong bias
>crime legislation.
>
>9. ENCOURAGE MULTI-CULTURAL EDUCATION IN LOCAL SCHOOLS
>
>Because more than half of all hate crimes are committed by young people
>ages 15 to 24, schools should be encouraged to join the fight against >hate.
>
>One way is to offer multicultural materials and courses to young people.
>Educators have learned that once differences are explained, fear and bias
>produced by ignorance are diminished.
>
>Many schools are already teaching students to understand and respect
>differences in race, religion, sexual orientation, and culture.
>
>The Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance Project provides
>educators with workable strategies and ready-to-use materials to help
>promote tolerance and understanding.
>
>10. FIND UNIQUE WAYS TO SHOW OPPOSITION
>
>It is important to remember that there is no single right way to fight
>hate, nor is there any one list, including the one here, of surefire
>approaches that will work in every community.
>
>The suggested responses in this report should be adapted to local
>circumstances, and community leaders should always be open to fresh
>approaches to fighting hate.
>
>With a little imagination, many people have found unique, and often
>humorous, ways to voice their opposition to bigotry and racism in their
>>communities.
>
>Some recent examples include the following:
>
>In Connecticut, a community distributed anti-Klan bumper stickers reading,
>"Our Town is United Against the Klan."
>
>In Lafayette, Louisiana, the editors of the Times of Acadiana said they
>"felt terrible" about running an advertisement placed by a local chapter
>of the Ku Klux Klan. So they decided to split the proceeds from the $900
>Klan ad between two of the hate group's archenemies --- the NAACP and the
>Southern Poverty Law Center's Klanwatch Project.
>
>Bayou Knights Grand Dragon Roger Harris apparently found the approach a
>little hard to take. "I have to swallow hard. I really do," Harris said.
>
>In Springfield, Illinois, a couple gave the Louisiana idea a local twist
>by turning a January 1994 Klan rally into a fundraising event for three of
>the Klan's foes --- the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern
>Poverty Law Center.
>
>Based on the adage, "When life gives you a lemon, make lemonade," the
>event, lightheartedly dubbed Project Lemonade, was modeled after the
>common walkathon.
>
>The project's donors pledged money for each minute the Klan rally lasted.
>The longer the rally, the more money was raised for the three anti-racism
>groups. The project's creators, Bill and Lindy Seltzer, said that the
>response was excellent and that pledges were collected from throughout the
>>state.
>
>Hate crimes and hate group activity touch everyone in a community.
>
>For that reason, people of good will must take a stand to ensure that
>hatred cannot flourish.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>© Copyright Information. All rights reserved. Southern Poverty Law Center.
>400 Washington Ave.
>Montgomery, AL 36104
>fax (334) 264-3121
>
You needn't be a member to help build human power
The POTENTIAL is in your hands ~ start a local study group
For details, mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
John Watkins Executive Director The Simple Society
303 Amherst St. Nashua, NH 03063 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://simsoc.org
Institute For Social Ecology - http://ise.rootmedia.org/
