Addressing hate and division in our society

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO – Elsewhere in today’s report on San Diego Jewish World is a story from the Anti-Defamation League reporting that nearly two-thirds of American Jews, based on a survey, have experienced or heard some form of antisemitism in the last five years.  On our television screens, meanwhile, is the ongoing trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd – a case study in White violence against Black people.   And, in the San Diego Union-Tribune this morning was a story from New York City about an unprovoked attack on an Asian-American woman which other people witnessed without intervening.

So much hate.

Just what can society do about it?  One school of thought is to increase the penalties for hate-motivated attacks such as the unprovoked knocking down and stomping upon the Asian-American woman in New York City by an alleged assailant, identified by police as Brandon Elliot.  Lock him up for a longer time, goes the argument, and that will serve the double purpose of keeping him off the streets for a longer period, while being a deterrent to other haters.

I’m not sure that a longer prison term is a deterrent, given the fact that hate crimes appear to be on the rise, notwithstanding laws in many states that enhance prison sentences for hate crimes.   Nevertheless, I believe the longer sentences are appropriate because they punish the felon not only for the violence against a specific individual but also for the attempted intimidation of that victims community.

Do haters go through something akin to graduate school in hating when they get to prison, where they meet and are mentored by people who are meaner and tougher than even they are?

I’ve heard of occasional cases of people who turned their lives around in prison—doing what we Jews call “teshuvah” and what some Christians call “come to Jesus” moments.   More often, however, I hear of prisoners who are paroled or who complete their prison terms and get out even more determined to take revenge on some “other” – be it a Jew, an African-American, an Asian-American, a Latin-American, a Caucasian, a gay person, a transgender person, or one who is disabled.

Perhaps, more intensive sensitivity programming could be instituted in our nation’s jails and prisons, but I recognize that prison authorities and guards have their hands full just trying to keep order on the inside, where racially-based gangs often exercise considerable influence over convicts who look like them.  The best we can hope for, I imagine, are small incremental gains.

Well, what about programming to stop hate before it begins? For years, the Anti-Defamation League has sponsored in schools programming like “The World of Difference” to sensitize students to the wonderful variety of human cultures there are to experience just by getting to know other students and their families.  Surely, that program has done some good, but again, according to statistics, hate is on the rise.  Clearly, then, more needs to be done.

The California Board of Education recently adopted an Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum that emphasizes the cultures and experiences of different groups of people including, but not limited to, Latin-Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Native Americans.

While this model curriculum has drawn criticism, including from some Jewish groups, about possibly opening the door to dangerous ethnic misconceptions, after nearly two years of discussion and editing, the curriculum does have some positive aspects.

I believe it will be a net plus if every student is required to learn something about other people’s cultures and experiences.  If taught in a sympathetic manner, without trying to cast any other group as villains, such a curriculum can widen the students’ perspectives, while reducing any fears they might have about unknown others.

From my point of view, other institutions that need reform are all levels of government and the political parties that help officials get elected.  I think ordinary citizens need to be on guard against any politician, whether already in office or seeking office, who plays to prejudices and bigotry.  An attack against any group should be considered an attack on all of us.

Even if politicians are philo-Semites and love Israel, I pledge to vote against them if they attack any other group of people.

Finally, I believe each of us, as citizens, has a duty to try to make things better in any way that we can.  Whether we are witnessing a physical attack such as that against which onlookers in New York City failed to take action or systemic injustice that diminishes any people, we must speak out.   Likewise, as individuals, we must try to initiate positive interactions with people outside our religious, racial, and gender comfort zones.

To this end, as publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World, I plan to widen our coverage to address not only Jewish life, but the lives and history of other groups with whom we share our dear country and planet.  Today we have an article about members of the transgender community.  I expect that you’ll see more diverse stories in a short while.

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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com