{"id":32770,"date":"2019-11-08T16:13:41","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T21:13:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=32770"},"modified":"2024-07-02T17:13:06","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T17:13:06","slug":"stern-countering-hate-lecture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=32770","title":{"rendered":"Strong democracy is essential to combating forms of hate, antisemitism expert says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kenneth
Kenneth Stern discussed “Antisemitism as a Form of Hate” as the signature event in the College’s Countering Hate initiative. (photo by Donn Young)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHate has been around for as long as human beings have existed. We\u2019ve always had this capacity to define and vilify another \u2026 [yet] we don\u2019t look at hate the same way that we do other feelings that are part of the human condition,\u201d Kenneth Stern, director of the Center for the Study of Hate at Bard College, told an audience Nov. 7 in the signature lecture of the College of Arts & Sciences\u2019 Countering Hate: Overcoming Fear of Differences<\/a> initiative.<\/p>\n

Citing evolutionary psychology and neuroscientific studies, Stern said, \u201cWe\u2019re programmed to see the world in an \u2018us versus them\u2019 fashion as a natural part of the human condition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only a handful of hate studies centers and institutes currently exist. Stern defined hate studies as \u201cInquiries into the human capacity to define, and then dehumanize or demonize, an \u2018other,\u2019 and the processes which inform and give expression to, or can curtail, control, or combat, that capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until we recognize and understand hate and its many manifestations, we cannot hope to address it, he said. Bard College\u2019s center, established in 2018, is looking at the issue from all sides, from psychology and neuroscience to anthropology and economics, said Stern. (As an example of the diversity of disciplines involved, one Bard professor is developing an \u201ceconomic cost of hate index,\u201d Stern said.)<\/p>\n

Stern\u2019s talk was titled, \u201cAntisemitism as a Form of Hate,\u201d and after providing an overview of hate studies, he moved to the specifics of hatred aimed at Jews.<\/p>\n

\"From
From left to right, Yaakov Ariel and Elizabeth Engelhardt, both Countering Hate steering committee members, Stern, Ruth von Bernuth of the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies and Charles Kurzman of the Carolina Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies. (photo by Donn Young)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhat is antisemitism at its heart? It\u2019s conspiracy theories about Jews \u2014 about Jews trying to harm non-Jews,\u201d said Stern. The second component of antisemitism is that the person holding this view believes that it provides an explanation for something wrong in the world, he said. Those who commit atrocities like the mass shootings at synagogues in Pittsburgh and Southern California in 2018 and 2019 believe they are committing noble acts of self-defense, he said.<\/p>\n

Stern is one of the nation\u2019s leading authorities on antisemitism. For 25 years he was the American Jewish Committee\u2019s expert on the subject. He was the lead drafter of the \u201cWorking Definition of Antisemitism,\u201d later adopted by the U.S. State Department.<\/p>\n

He has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and testified before Congress. He was an invited presenter at the White House Conference on Hate Crimes and an official member of the U.S. delegation to the Stockholm International Forum on Combating Intolerance. He was also part of the defense team in the historic Holocaust denial case of David Irving vs. Deborah Lipstadt.<\/p>\n

Too often, communities will dismiss antisemitic acts like vandalism of synagogues or Swastika graffiti as hooliganism, Stern said. But \u201cterming them as such is a way to render antisemitism invisible.\u201d<\/p>\n

In closing, Stern said that his chief concern was that we are living in a time of the erosion of our democratic infrastructure. \u201cI\u2019m a firm believer that a strong democracy is necessary for best combating hatred.\u201d<\/p>\n

As with regular infrastructure, you often can\u2019t see the corrosion until something crumbles: \u201cAs concerned as I am about antisemitism, I have more concern for the attacks on Muslims and immigrants because that helps create this \u2018us versus them\u2019 dynamic\u201d that leads to mass acts of violence, he said.<\/p>\n

The College\u2019s Countering Hate initiative was launched earlier this fall under Interim Dean Terry Rhodes to explore issues of intolerance, including antisemitism, Islamophobia and racism.<\/p>\n

UNC Global and the Gillings School of Global Public Health joined the College in co-sponsoring the Stern lecture. Other co-sponsors of the Countering Hate initiative are the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies, the Center for European Studies and the Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Nov. 13, the Countering Hate initiative is sponsoring a talk, \u201cPainful Hope: An Israeli Settler and Palestinian Activist in Dialogue,\u201d at 7 p.m. in Dey Hall\u2019s Toy Lounge. The speakers will present the successes and challenges of their groundbreaking grassroots organization, Roots: A Local Palestinian Israeli Initiative for Understanding, Nonviolence and Transformation.<\/p>\n

More events are being planned for the spring semester and will be added to the Countering Hate website as details become available. The College also hopes to offer a joint teaching initiative in the spring to foster an in-depth look at issues of intolerance.<\/p>\n

By Geneva Collins<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHate has been around for as long as human beings have existed. We\u2019ve always had this capacity to define and vilify another \u2026 [yet] we don\u2019t look at hate the same way that we do other feelings that are part of the human condition,\u201d Kenneth Stern, director of the Center for the Study of Hate at Bard College, told an audience Nov. 7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":32774,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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