By Veronica Perry
On Thursday, April 23 Erroll Southers, director of the Safe Communities Institute and professor of the practice in National and Homeland Security, spoke about “the virus of hate” during a new Price Talk. Southers’ teaching and research primarily focuses on homegrown violent extremism (HVE) and counterterrorism and, as a former FBI agent assigned to Foreign Counterintelligence and Terrorism, he was able to share unique insight on hate and extremist violence incidents during the current pandemic.
Southers explained that HVE is not unique to the United States and identified three specific factors that bring about this extremism: race, religion and issue-oriented extremist motivations. Discrimination and violence against Asian Americans during COVID-19’s spread and anti-Semitism are recent examples.
When discussing race as a primary motivator, Southers referenced the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Councils who established an online reporting center to track violence against Asian-Americans. He said, “They’re averaging 100 complaints a day. What’s really disturbing about that is 32% of those complaints that came in were incidents that occurred in California.” Much like Lois Takahashi’s point made in her Price Talk, words are extremely important during uncertain times such as COVID-19 in order to quell reactive HVE due to specific races, religions and issues.
Southers then explored the spike in anti-Semitism, which has seen an increase of 182% since the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” ralley in 2017. This past month, the American Jewish community released a report indicating that 20% of Jews in the United States have experienced anti-Semitic remarks. The Anti-Defamation League recently released a survey showing 25% of participants taking action to avoid anti-Semitism during COVID-19. Southers further detailed the survey saying, “12% [of people identifying as Jewish] are avoiding wearing markers of Judaism, star of David. 50% fear being attacked in public by wearing Jewish religious symbols or even a violent attack on their synagogue. And what’s really sad is 63% of their Jewish-American community believe they’re less safe today than they were a decade ago.”
Lastly, he discussed the issue-oriented category of HVE. “We have individuals who are what I call ‘anti.’ Anti-government, anti-immigrant, anti-gay, you name it. They are now pushing into this arena against stay-at-home orders in several states,” Southers said. Activities surrounding these protests are worrisome, he said, particularly in states with open carry gun laws. “We’ve seen interesting displays of these people wearing weapons and armament, while protesting under the guise of stay-at-home during the last several weeks,” he said.
Even so, under-reporting incidents continues to be an issue. Southers is in the processes of working with several USC organizations to create an interactive map of Los Angeles entitled, “Stronger Than Hate” to raise awareness of what’s going on in our own neighborhoods. “We’ll broaden this to a conversation of where things are happening in the county of Los Angeles. The interactive map will be supported by our current #VirusofHate link, offering a current listing of news, government announcements, and other resources covering extremist activities during the pandemic and it’s regularly updated,” he said.
Southers provided audience members with calls to action and informative resources, which can be found at the bottom of this piece. Watch his full conversation and learn more about Southers’ answers to questions on protests, immigration orders, online recruitment among hate groups, and more by watching more here. Be sure to register for future Price Talks and join in on discussions related to the critical policy issues facing the world.
Southers’ Resources for Further Reading:
Anti-Defamation League H.E.A.T. Map: The Hate, Extremism, Anti-Semitism and Terrorism (HEAT) map is interactive and provides details of extremists and anti-Semitic incidents across the nation.
Hatewatch: From the Southern Poverty Law Center, this site looks at hate groups, extremism and terrorism around the world and particularly among the American radical right.
Combat Hate: From the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance here in West L.A., this site encourages learning among all age groups through virtual empowerment workshops and online resources.