Friend,

There’s an urgent need to confront the hate-filled forces that seek to divide our nation, and yesterday’s United We Stand Summit held by the White House represents a pivotal step in the nation’s efforts to address the hate, violence and extremism that is threatening our communities and our democracy.

Participants in and organizers of the deadly January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol included many people associated with hate and extremist groups, such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, as well as military and law enforcement veterans and active-duty members. The rising acceptance of extremist ideology in mainstream society paired with recent hate and extremist violence illustrates the deep need for a national strategy to combat hate and extremism.

The summit convened local, state and federal policymakers, civil rights groups, faith and community leaders, technology and business leaders, law enforcement, survivors of hate-fueled violence and others to counter the corrosive effects of extremism on our democracy and public safety.

In advance of the summit, the SPLC began developing recommendations and goals that were proposed to the White House. We drew on our Year in Hate and Extremism report; on congressional testimony the SPLC has submitted over the past two years on extremism in the military, on the financing of hate on the internet, on violence directed against historically Black colleges and universities and other minority communal institutions; on our submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; and our Learning for Justice resources.

When the summit was announced, we set out three main goals for the White House convening: 

• Improve hate crime data collection and response. It is impossible to tackle our nation’s hate crime problem without measuring it accurately. Though the FBI has been collecting hate crime data from the nation’s 18,000 law enforcement agencies since 1991, the reporting is voluntary, and many agencies do not collect hate crime data or provide it to the FBI. 

• Center the victims and survivors of hate crimes, extremism and gun violence. We cannot arrest or prosecute racism, hatred or extremism out of existence. The focus must be on addressing the harms of hate-fueled violence, supporting victims and their families and working to heal and build resilience in their communities.

• Commit to long-term prevention initiatives. With an important presidential spotlight, we see the summit as an opportunity for elected officials and faith, business and community leaders to come together to identify best practices to confront hate-fueled violence. But we warned that the event should not be a one-off photo opportunity. Instead, we expressed our hopes that the summit will address the root causes of hate and extremism – and demonstrate a continuing commitment to promote shared democratic values, confront long-term contributors to extremism, and build community healing, trust and resilience.

Yesterday’s summit represents an important first step, with important commitments from the White House on which we and our allies can build. We welcome the Biden administration’s resounding call for justice and a better future for all our communities. We’ll be pressing the administration to continue to address these issues – in Washington and with community-based follow-up field hearings and roundtables to highlight evidence-based best practices, public-private partnerships, restorative justice initiatives, and effective law enforcement and community responses to hate crimes and extremism that can be replicated and scaled.

In solidarity,

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