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Friend,
At the United We Stand summit hosted by the Biden administration last week, the White House rolled out an impressive number of government initiatives, along with several public-private partnerships designed to foster unity and build community trust and resilience in the fight against hate and extremism.
We welcomed Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice’s August announcement of the summit to help stem the tide of the corrosive effects of increasing hate-fueled violence and extremism in the United States. As James Baldwin rightly said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
As chief policy officer, I represented the Southern Poverty Law Center at the summit, which brought together local, state and federal policymakers, civil rights groups, faith and community leaders, technology and business leaders, law enforcement officials and survivors of hate-fueled violence and their families all to combat the proliferation of hate in our country.
Of the many federal government-sponsored events I have attended over the years, none have inspired me more than the United We Stand summit.
It was an incredible moment of acknowledgment, healing, community transformation and unity. By elevating and highlighting the impact of the mass shootings in Buffalo, El Paso and Oak Creek, the hostage situation at the Colleyville synagogue, and the violent assaults on civilians in New York, Charlottesville and elsewhere, the day was a moment of reckoning and a sober reminder of the devastation that hate-fueled violence has inflicted on minority communities and families both in the past and present.
There was a recognition that the violence has deep roots in system failures as well as societal gaps in the recognition of the humanity in people who are different from us.
Most notably, the program showcased how survivors turned unimaginable tragedy into a movement to transcend hate, acknowledge the humanity of others and offer hope for a world where love wins. The genuine display of bipartisanship where the public welfare is prioritized above politics was a refreshing change from the constant barrage of hateful political rhetoric too often dominating public discourse.
The summit was transformational because there was recognition that no one person or entity alone can solve hate, the proliferation of white nationalism and extremism. It takes a village a commitment from the government, the community, faith leaders, businesses and everyday people working together.
In a letter to Rice in advance of the summit, we urged the planners to focus on survivors and their families, concentrate on forward-looking, long-term prevention initiatives not merely enforcement of existing laws and center community-based resources and best practices to address the harms of hate-fueled violence.
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In solidarity,
Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center
P.S. Have you heard about our new round-up supporter program? We’ve made it easy for you to “round up” each purchase on your credit or debit card and gift the spare change to the SPLC every month — every cent counts in the fight against hate! Learn more here.
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