In the
United states of America since
Donald Trump raised his voice,
incidents of hate have been directed against
transgender women,
Jews,
African Americana,
Hispanics,
Muslims,
Hindu Americans,
Sikh Americans and others. They have taken place from
New York and Florida to
California and
Washington State.
Friday March 10, 156 civil and human rights groups urged Trump in writing to
respond faster and more forcefully to hate-based incidents. In his
recent address to a
joint session of Congress, the president condemned
"hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms," but some critics said he
had taken to long to issue that statement.
According to me he in the previous years has contributed a lot to the friction between the different ethnic as well as different religious groups.
In addition, a new
Muslim-Jewish coalition, against hate crimes, is
pushing the government to provide more data on hate crimes and focus on
punishing offenders. The group represents an effort get advocates to
stand up for people of other faiths and ethnic backgrounds.
Suhail Khan, a member of the group and former Republican appointee,
said the power of the Muslim-Jewish alliance is the ability for members
to come to the defence of people of another faith, not their own.
Khan
told Cup of Politics there is a very powerful impact on people who witness situations
"when people are standing up for each other.”
"When
a stranger stands up for another individual who is being attacked for
their ethnic or religious background, others will join in,"
he said. But
the effect works in reverse as well: People can be encouraged by their
peers to join the harassment of someone from a different background.
Stanley
Bergman, a co-chairman of the group, said
"our goal is to make sure
that this matter — this hate crimes challenge — is on top of mind of the
legislature."
The first step, Bergman said, is to ensure uniformity of
data collection and prosecution around the county.
"In some parts
of the country there is better collection of data and of course there is
better prosecution," he said, but "in other parts of the country there
is not any kind of recognition that there is a challenge."
Listen to
the whole conversation.
+
Additional reading
- What to do in the Face of Global Anti-semitism
- The Rise of Anti-Seminism
- If you’re going to be a hater, make sure you’ve done your homework.
+++