This article is prompted by the US House Judiciary Committee hearing held on April 9, 2019. The government is right to hold such hearing on hate crimes and white nationalism. However, such hearing should not be based on which political party is in power. Also, such hearing should be balanced. Hearing on Black Nationalism and Separation such as that promoted by the Nation of Islam and in general, the Black Hebrew/Israelites should also be held so as to inform the nation and devise a national strategy for dealing with all types of evil hatred and evil nationalism.
Let me begin by saying that historically both major political parties, Democrats and Republicans, have been guilty of inappropriate policies and laws and attitudes regarding race, religion, sex, and similar issues.
The opposite of hate is love. Both love and hate have various shades of meanings depending on the context and motivation of the user. It is biblically obvious that we are to love the person and the good in the person. Correspondingly, it is also biblically obvious that we are to not hate the person but we are to hate the evil in the person.
Therefore, it is biblically obvious that we are not to hate a person based on his or her race or religion or any other characteristics. Yet, as already noted we are to hate and therefore speak against and stand against a person’s advocation of and/or support for anything that is evil; this of course, means we are to speak against and stand against the person on such matters but speaking/standing against a person does not equate to hating the person.
The word nationalism has various shades of meaning depending on the context and motivation of the user. The idea of giving some measure of priority to one’s nation over other nations is just as reasonable as the idea of giving priority to one’s household over other households. This measure of priority is consistent with the Bible’s admonition that if a person does not take care of his own he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. Yet, such priority of course should not aim to destroy the rightness in and of another person or group of persons but repel the wrongness in and of another.
In any case, hate and nationalism should never be rooted in racial differences.
Thus, white nationalism and black nationalism or any race-based nationalism that aims to lift one race above another race are equally evil and should be condemned, repelled, and noted by those in authority and leadership at every level.
As aforementioned, this article is prompted by the US House Judiciary Committee hearing held on April 9, 2019. The full YouTube video on the hearing is available below. Below it, you will also find my highlights of some of what each speaker said.
The first speaker, Eileen Hershenov, Anti-Defamation League (ADL) basically said the following: White Supremacists have experienced a resurgence in the last three years driven by the rise of the Alt Right and hateful and polarizing rhetoric on the part of candidates and elected officials. In the past 10 years, White Supremacists have been responsible for 54% of all domestic extremist related murders in the US. And it has risen to 78% in the last year (2018). This rise is helped by social media and its echo chambers that encourage rather than discourage and correct. She indicated the government and social media should do more to combat hate and white nationalism. She also notes that communities have a responsibility to call out hatred within their own communities by their own people.
The second speaker, Mohammad Abu-Salha, talks about how his daughter was unfortunately murdered as result of hate.
The third speaker, Eva Paterson of the Equal Justice Society begins by appealing to the committee to avoid political division and partisan politics. She provides a great summary of the historical timeline of racism by whites against blacks in America while also mentioning treatment of Native Americans by whites in America. She catalogues racism beginning with the arrival of the first “20 slaves” on America soil in 1619 and ending with racism during the Obama presidency and its presence in the Trump administration.
The fourth speaker, Neil Potts, talks about how Facebook has some 30,000 staff working using products, people, and partnerships to combat use of its platform to spread and publicize hate speech and racism and related issues.
The fifth speaker, Alexandria Walden, talks about what Google is doing to combat hate speech and racism and related issues including YouTube.
The sixth speaker, Morton Klein of the Zionist Organization of America of course speaks from a perspective of hate for his people, the Jews, but also mentions hate against other groups including blacks, LGBTs, etc.
The seventh speaker is Candace Owens. But let us first mention the eight and last speaker and return to Candace later as I will cover her in significant detail. The eight speaker is Kristen Clarke of the Lawyer Committee for Civil Rights Under Law which works with survivors of hate crimes as well as work with government and other partners to combat racism and other evil behavior including those on college campuses.
Also before getting to Candace, let me say that video of Eva Paterson is awesome and if one wants to review it, the below auto starts at her testimony which starts at the 50:16 time mark on the YouTube Video. One simply can stop he video once her testimony completes.
ce, let me say that video of Eva Paterson is awesome and if one wants to review it, the below auto starts at her testimony which starts at the 50:16 time mark on the YouTube Video. One simply can stop he video once her testimony completes.
Now for Candace see my separate article on her here.
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