Schools have new tool to fight hate
Guide targets white supremacists’ recruitment of kids
WASHINGTON — A report by the Anti-Defamation League says white supremacy propaganda in the United States increased 182 percent in 2018 from the year before and that efforts to recruit young people are taking place on and off school campuses.
Rising concerns about the spread of white supremacist ideology were underscored last week with the shooting deaths of at least 50 people at two mosques in New Zealand.
A gunman involved in at least one of the attacks had published an online document that made clear his white-supremacist views, and the number 14 was seen on his rifle, possibly a reference to a 14-word whitesupremacist slogan attributed in part to Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.”
To help fight the spread of white nationalist ideology to young people, educators have created what they say is the first tool kit for schools to recognize signs that someone is being recruited by white supremacists, and how to safely and effectively fight it.
“Confronting White Nationalism in Schools: A Toolkit” was written by two educators in partnership with the Western States Center, a liberal nonprofit organization working toward social, economic, racial and environmental justice.
Nora Flanagan, a veteran Chicago high school English teacher who is one of the authors, said she has been working in schools for 21 years and has seen a number of incidents occur.
“And I’ve watched every school struggle with how to respond, how not to overrespond, and how not to under-respond,” she said. “There’s been no resource. Schools are just left to wing it.”
The guide, co-written by Lindsay Schubiner, a program director at the center, and Jessica Acee, an educator and community organizer in Portland, Ore., offers common scenarios educators, administrators and others can recognize and offers recommendations on addressing them. It is free and can be obtained on the Western States Center website.
The authors sought the advice of teachers, administrators and stakeholders as they compiled best practices for stakeholders in each community. “It’s not a onesize-fits-all tool,” Acee said. “There’s a lot for different school communities to adapt.”
Schubiner said that when she has talked about the guide, people are surprised by the recruitment of kids.
“Andrew Anglin of the Daily Stormer (a neo-Nazi website) has said his website is designed mainly to target children as young as 11, and that is surprising to a lot of people and deeply disturbing.” she said.
The Anti-Defamation League report notes that some of the propaganda — flyers, banners and other — is not immediately identifiable as coming from white supremacist groups.
“The propaganda, which includes everything from veiled white supremacist language to explicitly racist images and words, often features a recruitment element, and frequently targets minority groups, including Jews, Blacks, Muslims, nonwhite immigrants and the LGBTQ community . ... (T) he 2018 propaganda incidents are predominantly concentrated in large metropolitan areas, with the highest activity levels in the states of California, Texas, Colorado, New York, Illinois, Florida and Virginia.”
“The 2018 numbers, which far exceed any previous annual propaganda distribution counts, also demonstrate that while white supremacist groups continued to target U.S. college campuses, the number of on-campus incidents increased only modestly (9%), compared to a huge (572%) jump in off-campus incidents.”
The report said that Identity Evropa, the country’s largest alt-right group, was responsible for more than 40 percent of the 1,187 propaganda distributions in 2018.
“The group refrains from using recognizable white supremacist imagery and language, preferring subtler white supremacist messages. Their latest (flyers), featuring George Washington or Andrew Jackson, read, ‘European roots American greatness.’ ”
The guide gives examples for how schools can respond if:
School property is vandalized with a hate group symbol or phrase, with no means to identify the culprit.
Someone has distributed flyers promoting a white nationalist group, event or ideology.
Anonymous online content disparaging marginalized students or groups appears.