The Politics of Hate
There is a stench in the air. Hate is out in the open. The number of hate crimes has dramatically escalated in the last couple of years. Recall Dylann Roof who killed nine in an African-American church in South Carolina or Gregory Bush who murdered two black shoppers in a grocery store in Kentucky. The vitriol is spreading. The Anti-Defamation League reported a 57 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents in 2017. It’s the largest increase since the ADL began keeping records. In Pittsburgh, a man stormed a synagogue killing 11 in the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. The shooter, Robert Bowers, had ventilated his hatred on Gab, a social network platform for racists, white nationalists and neo-Nazis. Extremist groups are using technology at a time when a growing culture of hate is taking root, both online and off.
Interview by David Barsamian.
Recorded at United World College.
Speaker
Arjun Singh Sethi
Arjun Singh Sethi is a community activist, civil rights lawyer and law professor based in Washington, DC. He works closely with Muslim, Arab, South Asian, and Sikh communities and advocates for racial justice, equity, and social change. His articles appear in The Guardian, Politico, USA Today, and the Washington Post. He holds faculty appointments at Georgetown University Law Center and Vanderbilt University Law School. He is the editor of American Hate: Survivors Speak Out. The book was nominated by NPR as a 2018 Great Read.
Cherie –
I admit I don’t tend to listen to this station and just happened upon this interview. I couldn’t turn it off. Compassion for all is what I took away. There was calmness in his voice while speaking of such passionate topics. I thoroughly enjoyed this, I will be looking into his book and looking for more from you. Many thanks for sharing, Cherie
Dennis –
I was just listening to Arjun on our wonderful community radio station here in KC – KKFI. Arjun makes excellent points about the hypocrisy of Trump pushing the “american exceptionalism” agenda. He makes no mention of Barry Soetoro doing the exact same thing throughout his presidency. He then goes on to say that he approves of the media giants (which are actually big brother monopolies bent on total mind control) censoring “alt right” and “conservative hate groups” and “white supremacists”. He exposes himself as a hypocrite and a fool. The ONLY time censorship can be defended is in protecting children from the depravities of our very sick society. I would ask Arjun what right he thinks the zionist racists at google and FB have to censor anyone. As far as that goes, who has the right to decide what is heard and what is hidden? True history has shown, time and time again, that censorship is dangerous and leads to tyranny – with those deciding what gets censored becoming the tyrants. The best disinfectant for evil is sunshine. The reason the american citizenry has deteriorated into the imbecilic hypocritical accessory to the genocide and high crimes of their government that it is, is because of the propaganda (of which censorship is a prime component) that infests the msm. Arjun is an excellent example of a member of the propaganda-spewing msm. he is not interested in real debate or seeing both sides of the story – only in pushing his one-sided agenda.
Armen in Albuquerque –
Most inspiring: When black people are free, we will all be free.
Julie in Gold Hill, CO –
What a great interview
Nile –
Grand to hear you. Terrific broadcast with Arjun Sethi—highly compelling truth-telling, as per usual!