A Partnership To Fight Hate and Intolerance
By Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director
and Wade Henderson, Executive Director, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
This article originally appeared in The International Herald-Tribune on
September 10, 2004
As the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe meets in Brussels this week for its Conference on Tolerance, two anniversaries put its mission into stark relief.
One is the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, not only on people and property, but on the core values of democracy, pluralism and equality for all. This month is also the third anniversary of the United Nations World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, where the international community gathered to forge a global response to hate and bigotry. While the conference succeeded in raising awareness about issues like caste discrimination in India and the crime of slavery of people of African descent, the conference is also unfortunately remembered as a venue for divisive anti-Semitic rhetoric that diverted much needed attention from the rest of the agenda.
Reflecting on these twin anniversaries, as the curtain rises on the Brussels conference, we are focused, not just on the need to fight hatred, but also on the need for communities to do so together, with a common sense of purpose.
Working toward that end, we came together to show our strong support for both the OSCE Berlin Conference on Anti-Semitism and the OSCE Brussels Conference on Tolerance. The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the oldest and most diverse civil and human rights coalition in the United States, and its sister organization, the LCCR Education Fund, led a delegation of America's premier civil rights leaders to Berlin. And in Brussels, a similar delegation includes representatives of a broad array of groups.
In Brussels, we hope to set the tone for partnerships among communities, among governments and among human rights organizations to work together against racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and related intolerance. The history of the American civil rights movement demonstrates what can be done when you reach out to build broad coalitions for change.
In the United States, the urgent need for both a tough law enforcement response and education and programming to confront violent bigotry has increased over the past three years. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the nation witnessed a rash of attacks against Americans and others perceived to be Arab, Muslim or South Asian. A number of initiatives in which we were involved since that time demonstrated an understanding of the need to take affirmative steps to address prejudice and bias.
We cannot outlaw prejudice. But legislation sends a powerful message and shapes attitudes and expectations. Coupled with antidiscrimination and hate crime laws and policies, an affirmative program of education, training, and outreach can shape an effective response. It is critical that governments come together with nongovernmental organizations to create a common language and process for monitoring bias crimes, and addressing racial and ethnic profiling, and discrimination in housing, education, and employment:
The OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has been tasked with collecting information on hate crime. In the United States, the FBI's national hate crime data collection effort has increased public awareness of the problem and sparked meaningful improvements.
It is important to build on the momentum of these conferences and urge states to ensure that law enforcement officials can recognize hate crimes and develop transparent procedures for recording and responding to incidents. To that end, we call on OSCE participating states to:
Implement hate crime monitoring mechanisms and ensure that legal systems provide effective protection against all forms of racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and discrimination, in conformity with international and regional standards.
Implement anti-bias education programs designed to make schools a safer environment. History has shown that, when people of conscience are given tools and skills to recognize and combat bigotry, prejudice and discrimination, they will do so.
Promote anti-bias education for law enforcement professionals to help develop cross-cultural and communication skills that will enhance officer effectiveness and trust with diverse communities. Tensions among ethnic, racial, and religious groups are further exacerbated by law enforcement professionals who lack cultural understanding of the communities in which they work, and skills to identify, investigate, and respond to hate crimes.
Finally, government, civic leaders and the OSCE itself must set the tone for national discourse and help shape attitudes by condemning all manifestations of racism, anti-Semitism xenophobia and all forms of intolerance.
Too often, the manipulation of fear and appeals based on race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or religion can be divisive within societies across the OSCE region. We stand together in Brussels to reaffirm that we are committed to work to strengthen our joint efforts and to say that hatred against one of us is hatred against all of us.
The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.
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