Joining Together to Fight Hate

We are all heartbroken and outraged following the massacre of 50 Muslim men and women in Christchurch, New Zealand. On Monday, the Nathan Cummings Foundation sent an email to other foundation presidents expressing their outrage, not only about the attack, but about the growing threat of white nationalism around the world. Their President & CEO, Sharon Alpert, states that she believes that as leaders, we must see the problem for what it is and stand to confront it. As Jews, we often feel that we must speak out against injustice in our world. Our values and history make us strive for a world without hate and injustice. However, when hate feels pervasive, we often feel that we alone cannot make a difference. The Nathan Cummins Foundation suggests a few ways that we can join together to #deactivate hate:

• Raise the alarm about growing white nationalism. Western States Center, Political Research Associates, and the Anti-Defamation League are providing research, analysis, and training to help the country understand white nationalism, so we can see the threat for what it is and push back effectively.
• Fight back in radical solidarity. Hate threatens all of us, but we are stronger when we work together across multiple communities and identities. Organizations like the Pillars Fund, Bend the Arc, Faith in Action, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, New Israel Fund, and T’ruah are using their collective voice to condemn hate and stand in unity with all those targeted by it.
• Build the political and economic power of marginalized communities, and fight against policies that institutionalize white nationalism, like Poor People’s Campaign, Community Change, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Mijente, NAACP and Jolt Initiative.
• Grow and nurture a culture that can generate and hold a world where all flourish. Auburn Seminary, the Revolutionary Love Project, and the Faith Matters Network are building the possibility of a world repaired and healed.
• Call on social media and technology companies to tackle hate on their platforms. Partners like Color of Change, Center for Media Justice, Action Center on Race & the Economy, and Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility are pushing corporations to curb hate on their platforms through campaigning, shareholder and investor organizing, and other strategies.