Confronting Hate in our Schools
Jessica Acee St. Mary’s Academy, Portland, Or Western States Center Senior Fellow
Based in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain States, Western States Center works nationwide to strengthen inclusive democracy so that all people can live, love, and work free from fear. Who is in the room?
Name, preferred pronoun, one thing you do for work, and one thing you do for fun
Why is it important to you to be here today? Agree or Disagree I know of incidents of hate speech or actions in my school community. Agree or Disagree There are resources in my community to push back against hate in schools. Agree or Disagree When I hear about hate speech or actions in my school community, I feel comfortable responding. Agree or Disagree There are conversations about white nationalism happening in my school community.
What is white nationalism? The belief that national identity should be built around white ethnicity and that white people should maintain dominance in demographics, culture, and politics. It has the long term goal of creating an all-white ethnostate. White nationalism ● Is built on an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory ● Seeks to build political power ● Uses misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia as a recruitment pipeline ● Has anti-immigrant, anti-Black, and anti-Muslim policy goals Decoding White Nationalist Rhetoric
When they say: They mean:
Asked whether he would disavow a goal of maintaining or expanding a European-American majority, [Bob Dane] said, “For many, the question of whether a country loses its majority status is a fair question.” Decoding White Nationalist Rhetoric
When they say: They mean:
“We encourage our guys to go to young Republicans… [and] start broaching identitarian and nationalist ideas.”
~ Patrick Casey, American Identity Movement (formerly Identity Evropa) Why? And Why now?
“My site is mainly designed to target children for radicalization.” Andrew Anglin, editor of the neo-Nazi site The Daily Stormer, 2018 How serious is this issue? ● White nationalist ideology envelopes and escalates, and youth remain a primary target for recruitment. ● White nationalism is branching out: music subcultures, online gaming, YouTube, podcasts, and more. ● The Southern Poverty Law Center reported a 30% increase in hate groups between 2015 and 2019: 1,020 organizations by the end of 2018.
● This mirrors the increase in hate crimes, up 17% in 2017. The Guts of our Toolkit: ● Scenarios divided into categories by general approach and levels of severity ● Each scenario comes with a set of suggested responses for students, staff, administration, parents, and community stakeholders ● Each also includes a success story and how NOT to respond For BEFORE an incident: Roadblocks to responding:
● We respond -- with lament, rage, sadness -- in our silos ● It seems unapproachable ● Denial is easier than discomfort ● There is SO MUCH ELSE
Scenario Activity Questions for your group: 1. What should the most immediate response entail? Questions for your group: 1. What should the most immediate response entail?
2. What secondary responses need to happen? Questions for your group: 1. What should the most immediate response entail?
2. What secondary responses need to happen?
3. What resources will we need in order to respond? Questions for your group: 1. What should the most immediate response entail?
2. What secondary responses need to happen?
3. What resources will we need in order to respond?
4. What challenges should we anticipate in responding? Questions for your group: 1. What should the most immediate response entail?
2. What secondary responses need to happen?
3. What resources will we need in order to respond?
4. What challenges should we anticipate in responding?
5. How can this scenario inform future preventative efforts?
● ● Closing Respond to ONE of the following prompts: ● Share one thing you are leaving here wanting to do ● Share one thought or idea that’s stuck with you ● Share one thing you will google post conference Contact Info: Jessica Acee at [email protected]
To request copies of the toolkit: westernstatescenter.org/schools
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