by: Oren Segal
June 16, 2016
One year ago, on June 17, 2015, a white supremacist murdered nine parishioners at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. It’s terrible – and unfair – that the quiet space in time we should have had to reflect and properly mourn these murders targeting African-Americans has been literally blown apart by another tragedy – even larger in scale – involving the deliberate targeting of members of the LGBTQ community in Orlando this past weekend.
We can and must grieve for the victims of the heartless white supremacist who murdered nine people who had welcomed him into prayer,
communion, and fellowship. We can and must mourn the victims in Orlando celebrating life during Pride Month and Latino Night.
And: we can do more than stand in solidarity and mourn.
On this anniversary, after a weekend of bias-motivated mayhem, we should rededicate ourselves to ensuring that we, as a nation, are doing all we can to fight hate and extremism.
1) Law enforcement authorities are now investigating what role – if any – radical interpretations of Islam played in inspiring the Orlando murderer to act -- and that work is clearly justified. But we must recognize and pay attention to extremism and hate coming from all sources – including white supremacists, like the murderer in Charleston.
2) Charleston and Orlando are further evidence that firearms are more popular than ever as the deadly weapons of choice for American extremists. We must end limitations on federal research on gun violence – and make it more difficult to obtain firearms through increased waiting periods, safety restrictions, and limitations on purchases – especially of assault-style weapons. None of these steps will certainly prevent the next gun-toting mass murderer – but, as President Obama said, “to actively do nothing is a decision as well.”
3) We need more inclusive and extensive laws in place to combat violence motivated by hate and extremism. On the state level, though 45 states and the District of Columbia have hate crime laws, a handful of states – including South Carolina – do not (the others are Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, and Wyoming). ADL and a broad coalition of three dozen national organizations have formed #50 States Against Hate to improve the response to all hate crimes, with more effective laws, training, and policies.
And, though hate crime laws are very important, they are a blunt instrument – it’s much better to prevent these crimes in the first place. Congress and the states should complement these laws with funding for inclusive anti-bias education, hate crime prevention, and bullying, cyberbullying, and harassment prevention training programs.
4) And finally, let us resolve to more fiercely resist unnecessary and discriminatory laws, like North Carolina’s HB 2, that deprive individuals of the opportunity to live their lives in dignity, free from persecution because of their race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.