What our children learn from us

This past year can best be described as tumultuous. Whatever our political leanings, we can all agree that we’ve been subjected to increasingly divisive rhetoric and incivility in the public forum.

The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League report increasing incidents of hate speech, bigotry, intolerance, bullying and anti-Semitism. On college campuses, we have seen the hatred of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and virulent riots against Jewish students.

__________

How SC can fight anti-Semitism

McDowell waives right to hearing on gun charge in ‘Dylann Roof’-style plot

Why presidents speak out against religious hate — and why people notice when Trump doesn’t

Israel arrests hacker linked to threats on US Jewish centers

__________

We’ve seen this type of activity before. It was Europe, in the 1930s: The Nuremberg Laws were passed, cemeteries desecrated, books burned and Jewish business boycotted and threatened. Democratic countries showed no leadership in calling down hatred, fear and bigotry in the 1930s. When the purpose of riots, desecration and hate speech is to intimidate or harm a religion or ethnic group, we should unite to stop that wave.

That tide was not turned, and we know the result: World War II fought around the globe, death and destruction in almost every country and a horrifying death toll of 65 million people. In Europe, there was the targeting of all Jewish people and the doctrine of the “Final Solution,” which resulted in 12 million deaths, of which 6 million were Jewish.

We no longer have to look abroad for signs reminiscent to what was seen in Nazi Germany. In December, Whitefish, Mont., experienced an unprecedented amount of anti-Semitism: groups calling for Jewish business boycotts, hateful epithets smeared on store windows and parades deriding the Jewish community. In Concord, N.H., a group of middle and high schoolers made insulting comments during the discussion of Anne Frank, the child victim of the Holocaust who kept a diary of her daily life while hiding from the Nazis. In Massachusetts, a number of middle schoolers were denying the existence of Anne Frank. In the subways of New York, the station walls were smeared with anti-Semitic graffiti and ugly epithets.

Even in our own state, we experience hatred. The trial of Dylan Roof for his despicable acts in Charleston in 2015 reminded us that hatred is alive and well in our midst.

There are also groups wishing harm to the Jewish Community. On Jan. 10, Columbia’s Katie and Irwin Kahn Jewish Community Center was one of 16 Jewish centers across the Southeast and one of 70 across the country that was targeted by a frightening phone call, professing to have placed a bomb on the site. The police were called, the grounds carefully checked, and luckily, this was found to be a hoax. These multiple bomb threats were even reported in Israel, as a call from Israeli reporters was received wanting to confirm this horrifying threat.

And on Feb. 17, we saw the arrest of self-professed “white supremacist” Benjamin T.S. McDowell, who had previously posted an “interest” in the conservative synagogue in Myrtle Beach and had unknowingly met with undercover agents to obtain a gun with the intention and “in the spirit of Dylan Roof” of doing harm. He was apprehended before he could act.

If our children are threatening each other or denying the past, they are getting these ideas from somewhere: the home, the school, the public arena. We must not only speak out against this type of rhetoric, we must teach our children the necessity of civility, respect for different religions and freedoms. We must demand that not only of our children, who watch our every move, nuance and attitudes, but also of our neighbors, our leaders and ourselves.

On April 9, there will be a “Holocaust Remembered” supplement in The State. It will feature stories related to the children of the Holocaust. Please look for this publication and continue to learn about the Holocaust and the lessons that it still teaches us today.

This story was originally published April 1, 2017 at 3:53 PM with the headline "What our children learn from us."