Presentation by Rabbi Kolby Morris-Dahary
The Impact of Hate Symbols
…and what you can do about them
https://www.standsteamboat.com STANDsteamboat@gmail.com
What is STAND?
Vision: Routt won’t STAND for Hate
Mission: STAND works to disrupt hate and promote anti-discrimination through education, policy change, partnerships, and positively influencing the next generation.
3 key messages:
-Hate is a problem in Routt County
-It’s in our community’s character to care about our neighbors
-Everyone has a role to play in disrupting hate and discrimination
What is a symbol?
Symbol: a person or a concept that expresses, represents, stands for or suggests an idea, quality, belief, action or material object. Symbols take the form of words, sounds, gestures, ideas or visual images and are used to convey other ideas.
We see symbols every day in all aspects of our lives. Unfortunately, symbols are also used to convey hate and bias.
Examples of symbols
Questions:
*Trigger warning
The swastika is an ancient symbol that emerged independently among many cultures on several continents. Before the 20th century, its use (including in the United States) was almost always benign. However, in the early 20th century, various right-wing adherents of the so-called “völkisch” movement in Germany, a movement in large part dedicated to uncovering a romanticized and largely mythical German/“Aryan” past, adopted the swastika as a symbol. The use of the swastika in this context subsequently influenced Adolf Hitler to adopt the swastika as the primary symbol for the Nazi Party in 1920. The murderous legacy of the Nazi regime, especially the Holocaust, permanently converted the swastika into a symbol of hate, antisemitism and infamy. Since 1945, the swastika has served as the most significant and notorious of hate symbols, antisemitism and white supremacy for most of the world outside of Asia. Its display is prohibited in Germany and some other countries, leading some right-wing extremists to devise variants or alternatives to the swastika that would evoke a similar effect. In the U.S., the swastika is overwhelmingly viewed as a hate symbol. The swastika, along with the letters “KKK” and the numbers “666,” is one of the most common forms of “shock” graffiti in the United States, typically spray-painted by juveniles who are not actually white supremacists but simply want to use the image to shock and alarm people. Among white supremacists, the swastika is a very common symbol, rendered in many different ways and often combined with other hate symbols. White supremacy encompasses many forms of hate including antisemitism, racism, anti-Muslim, anti-LGBTQ, etc.
The image of the burning cross is one of the most potent hate symbols in the United States, popularized as a terror image by the Ku Klux Klan since the early 1900s. Cross-burnings (called "cross-lightings" by Ku Klux Klan groups, to make it seem as if they are not destroying a Christian cross) have long been used as a traditional symbol by Klan groups, used both in Klan rituals as well as in attempts to intimidate and terrorize victims of Klan groups. So widely associated with racial intimidation has this symbol become that most criminal cross-burning incidents do not actually have a connection to a Ku Klux Klan group. The symbol of the burning cross has also transcended the borders of the United States, as tattoo images of Klansmen standing in front of burning crosses are not uncommon among European and other white supremacists.
In 1860-61, eleven southern states seceded from the United States to protect the institution of slavery, forming the Confederate States of America and precipitating the Civil War. During the war, the Confederacy and its military forces used a variety of flags, but the flag that became most associated with the Confederacy was the so called "battle flag." Organizations such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans adopted the flag as a symbol of Southern heritage but the flag also served as a potent symbol of slavery and white supremacy, which has caused it to be very popular among white supremacists in the 20th and 21st centuries. Today, the use of the Confederate flag is recognized as a symbol of white supremacy and racism with recognition that the symbol is offensive to many Americans.
The hangman's noose has come to be one of the most powerful visual symbols directed against African-American people, comparable to the emotions that the swastika evokes for Jewish people. Its origins are connected to the history of lynching in America, particularly in the South after the Civil War, when violence or threats of violence replaced slavery as one of the main forms of social control that whites used against African-Americans. The noose quickly became associated with the Ku Klux Klan. In the early twentieth century, when the rise of the Second Ku Klux Klan coincided with the height of lynching incidents (most of the victims of which were African-American), the noose became cemented as a key hate symbol targeting African-American people. The noose may appear as a drawing or rendering, but also quite common is the use of actual nooses to intimidate or harass African-Americans (or sometimes other people of color) –for example, by leaving one at someone's home or at their workplace.
Hate symbols locally:
Here in Steamboat, there has been an increase of reported hate symbol graffiti in public spaces, specifically swastikas, which in most circumstances are understood as an expression of antisemitism:
1. A group of high school students drew a swastika on a Jewish student’s car on Rosh Hashanah 2022 (The Jewish new year)
6. In August of 2022, a video circulated of local teen girls with swastikas drawn on their stomachs.
2. In September of 2022, a swastika and racial slur was found drawn on a community member’s car in Craig.
2. In September of 2023, a swastika was burned into a picnic table adjacent to SSHS.
3. In September of 2023, a swastika was spray painted under a bridge in downtown Steamboat.
4. In September of 2023, a swastika was drawn on a Jewish High school student’s notebook during class.
5. In September of 2023, a swastika was found in the bathroom at a local High school.
7. In December of 2023, a swastika was found in the bathroom of a local elementary school.
Questions for Reflection:
Have you ever seen a hate symbol and if so, what was it? What was the first thing you felt or thought when you saw it?
When people see these hate symbols in their everyday lives, how do you think they feel when they see them?
How do you think targeted group(s) feel when they see them?
What do you think the impact of hate symbols are on individuals? Communities? And society at large?
What are some things we can do to prevent and stop hate symbols from being written/drawn?
Being an upSTANDer:
-What are some actions we can take when we see a hate symbol?
-What can we do to prevent people from using using/drawing hate symbols?
-What can we do as individuals? As a community/school? What can we do online? As a society?
Persuasive Letter Writing Activity
Using the Persuasive Letter Organizer, you will identify who the best recipient is— an individual person, school principal, city council, school board, social media company, letter to the editor, etc.
Your persuasive letter should include: a statement about what your position is, background information about the hate symbol(s), reasons the hate symbol(s) should be challenged, what you propose to be done, and what you are asking the letter recipient for.
Closing
What does the opposite of a hate symbol look like?
Routt won’t STAND for hate
Stay Connected!
STAND Convening: Unfriendly Content
A discussion and stories about hate speech, harassment and discrimination on social media platforms
Wednesday March 27, 2024
Library Hall / 5-6:30pm
www.standsteamboat.com