Forgotten Fires - Responding To Hate

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Responding To Hate

	Understanding Hate
		How Hate Stalks The Vulnerable
		Wanda Mitchum Interview
		Why Burn Churches?
		The Making of A Skinhead
		Web of Hate
	Responding To Hate
		Heroes Against Hate
		Resources for Responding
		Fighting Hate
		National Response

"In Germany they first came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me -- and by that time no one was left to speak up."

German Pastor Martin Niemoller

Pulaski, Tennessee is infamous. Having been the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan, Pulaski became a battlefield in the 1980s after the creation of a national holiday for slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The Klan marched in Pulaski every year to protest.

Pulaski began to fight back in 1988, with the citizens group Giles County United, which virtually shut down the town on the day of that year's Klan rally. When the marchers showed up, they found a ghost town draped in orange banners, the international color of brotherhood. There were no restrooms available, no businesses open and no restaurants serving food.

There are many ways to combat hate. As Mahatma Ghandi said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

Here are some tools and guidelines for effectively responding to hate crime and hate groups.

WHEN HATE COMES TO TOWN

"Ten Ways to Fight Hate", A Community Response Guide to Hate Crime and Hate Groups
Responding to Hate Groups / Ten Points to Remember, Center for Democratic Renewal
Not in Our Town Curriculum and Community Action Materials

MONITORING WEB SITES

To monitor and combat the "changing face of hate," the Wiesenthal Center has created Digital Hate 2000, a CD ROM interactive report identifying more than 1,400 hate sites.

The ADL's Hate Filter is a software tool designed for parents to protect their children by blocking access to sites that advocate hatred and bigotry.

BUILD ALLIANCES

Join the NAACP, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Anti-Defamation League, or another national anti-racist organization.
Join a local multi-racial alliance to fight injustice.
Write a letter to your local newspaper, expressing your feelings about Forgotten Fires and urging actions for change.
Support organizations that are working to provide equal economic opportunities in rural areas and fight the cycle of poverty and hate. Rural areas particularly need access to telecommunications technology, so that they can overcome their isolation.
Co-sponsor local marches, a film festival, concerts, and fund-raisers that aim to raise public awareness about hate crimes.
The National Arson Prevention Initiative, the Department of Justice and the Federal Emergency Management Agency award grants to state and local governments to enhance arson investigation and prevention training programs, encourage the development of arson awareness campaigns, and seed community-based coalitions for arson prevention. Make alliances with these federal agencies to develop and enhance prevention programs in your community.

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