Bornstein Holocaust Education Center calls on nation to confront hate speech

Nov. 28, 2016 – The Bornstein Holocaust Education Center joins with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in being profoundly disturbed by the hateful rhetoric that occurred at a conference of white nationalists held on Nov. 19 in Washington, D.C. 

According to press reports, Richard Spencer, the leader of the National Policy Institute – a white nationalist think tank – that sponsored the conference, made several direct and indirect references to Jews and other minorities, often alluding to Nazism. He spoke in German to quote Nazi propaganda and refer to the mainstream media. He implied that the media was protecting Jewish interests and said, “One wonders if these people are people at all?” He also stated that America belongs to white people.

The Holocaust – the rise of Nazism, its incremental destruction of human rights, its culmination in mass murder – teaches us about the fragility of democracy. Words matter. The Holocaust did not begin with killing; it began with words. We join with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in calling on the President-elect, his appointees, all elected officials of whichever party, all American citizens, religious and civic leaders, and the leadership of all branches of the government to condemn the hateful acts and groups that seek to undermine our country’s values, and to acknowledge and affirm their own sacred responsibility to protect our democratic institutions.