Kansas City Embraces Diversity in Face of Neo-Nazis + More

Diverse Protest Stands Strong In the Face of Neo-Nazi Hatred

On Saturday, Nov. 9, a diverse group of civil rights organizations, city officials, and concerned community members, including “the old and young, African-Americans, whites, and a few women wearing hijabs,” gathered to say “NO” to hatred by contesting a rally planned by a group of Neo-Nazi white supremacists.

The neo-Nazi rally was advertised as a “stand against illegal immigration and rise against the downfall of the American economy,” and drew three dozen neo-Nazis, dressed in black, who awaited a turn to preach their views on the downtown courthouse steps, according to the Kansas City Star.

Speaking in the face of the cheering opposition, Jewish Community Relations Bureau President David Rudman insisted it was no coincidence that the hate group chose to rally on the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night on which the Nazis staged a series of state sanctioned, anti-Jewish riots against the Jewish communities of Germany and Austria. Highlighting the protest’s positive message, Rudman affirmed, “We have come together to show our opposition to hate, and to let the [National Socialist Movement] know they are not welcome in Kansas City.”

Despite promising to have thousands of neo-Nazis marching in Kansas City, the pro-diversity crowd outnumbered them nine to one, according to the Star, not including the hundreds who rallied at the city’s Liberty Memorial “to embrace diversity instead of hating it.”

Lucero Vigil Highlights Progress and Challenges

Members of the Patchogue, NY community came together to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the hate crime killing of Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant and longtime Patchogue resident. Around 80 people attended an interfaith service at Iglesia Evangelica Refugio de Salvacion on Nov. 9, offering prayers, poetry, and songs in the name of peace. Attendees also shared reflections about how the incident affected them. “Something changed that day for the village, for the town and for Suffolk County,” said Patchogue Village Mayor Paul Pontieri.

The vigil comes on the heels of a report that hate crimes in Suffolk County have jumped 200 percent over the last year, according to Newsday. Some activists believe that the numbers reflect a greater willingness of victims to come forward and report hate crimes. Marian Russo, a Patchogue resident, spoke about the legacy of the crime. “Change doesn’t happen overnight,” she said. “I hope we can eventually be remembered as a community that has changed.”

Fourth Annual Summit on Hate Illuminates Transgender Voice

With aspirations of creating an informed community free of hatred, the people of Billings, MT joined together on Saturday, Nov. 16, to promote the awareness of transgender issues in the 4th Annual Summit on Hate, sponsored by the local Not in Our Town Billings group.

"The trans community needs other people to understand who they are, so that they can be treated properly and accepted," group member and event organizer Marty Ortiz told KULR.

Through shared individual experience, a panel of professionals with transgender clientele, a Q&A session, and small group discussion, the event worked to generate a voice for an underrepresented portion of the Billings population, exploring the “legal, medical and educational issues” that deeply affect the transgender community, according to the Billings Gazette.

Following the summit, organizers invited participants to take part in the subsequent 16th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, an event that has never been publicly advertised in Billings. Given the clandestine lives of many transgender people in Billings for their own safety, Ortiz saw the summit as “an opportunity for others to understand what life is like for [transgender people] and to raise awareness about the problems they face.”

Restorative Justice Offers Healing Instead of Bitterness

For Sikh Awareness Month this November, we reflect on the Sikh community’s response to hate crimes as a model for healing. Last month on CNN, Sikh Coalition co-founder Amardeep Singh shared the story of how one victim worked with his attacker toward healing.

Bias crime victim Gurpreet Singh found himself in a position to forgive when he attended the sentencing of his attacker, Thomas Brand. In 2003, Brand shoved Singh on a Long Island Railroad traincar, angry about losing his friends in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. He was arrested and charged with aggravated harassment.

Many in Singh’s position would prefer to let the legal system run its course and go on with their lives. But Singh’s faith taught him the values of compassion and forgiveness. So when he attended Brand’s sentencing, he “saw a man in tremendous pain that needed healing, not jail time,” and requested that Brand serve out community service instead of imprisonment.

The judge agreed, and Brand began his service by helping Singh and the Sikh Coalition collect data about anti-Sikh hate crimes. “We got to know each other and eventually Thomas was standing with Gurpreet and me as we went to gurdwaras, Sikh houses of worship, collecting reports of bias against Sikhs,” Amardeep Singh wrote. “All of us were better for the experience.”

Read Singh’s opinion piece on CNN and check out educational materials that can be used for Sikh Awareness Month in California.