Pols urged to denounce hate speech on sight

It’s critical to ‘do it in real time,’ says David Goldenberg of Anti-Defamation League

A protester who identified himself as Doug Walter of Pana holds up a sign equating Gov. Pritzker with Adolf Hitler at Saturday’s rally at the Capitol. (WGEM-TV)

By Ted Cox

An alliance of Illinois civil-rights groups on Monday called on elected officials and other local leaders to denounce hate speech after anti-Semitic protesters joined demonstrations against the state’s COVID-19 stay-at-home order in Springfield and Chicago over the weekend.

“We’re all here for one reason,” said David Goldenberg, the Anti-Defamation League’s Midwest regional director, in a digital news conference, “to collectively condemn the anti-Semitism, racism, Nazi comparisons, and other forms of hatred recently witnessed at stay-at-home rallies in Springfield and Chicago.

“We as a group stand united in our belief that there is no place for racism, hate, anti-Semitism, and other forms of bigotry in our politics, policy discussions, and public discourse,” he added, “The vile and dangerous scapegoating, hate, and harassment we’ve seen at these rallies and before must stop.”

Karen Freeman-Wilson, president of the Chicago Urban League, denounced “the deafening silence” from elected officials who attended those rallies, including state Reps. Darren Bailey of Xenia and Chris Miller of Oakland in Springfield, alongside Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Curran. “If you are silent, your silence indicates agreement.”

“We are distressed at the silence from legislators and others that we would expect to join in such condemnation,” said the Very Reverend Dominic Barrington, dean at St. James Cathedral in Chicago.

“We know that, when public officials do not call out and condemn hate, they contribute to the normalization of stigma and bias,” said Michael Ziri, director of public policy at Equality Illinois. “Silence in the face of hatred and discrimination is consent to that hate and discrimination.

“Words matter,” he added. “Left unchallenged, hateful words seep into attitudes, incite discrimination and violence, fuel cruel policies, and turn us against each other.”

“Those who seek to divide our society must be denounced and held accountable,” said Maricela Garcia, chief executive officer of the Gads Hill Center in Chicago.

Goldenberg cited a recent ADL study finding anti-Semitic incidents “at an all-time high” across the nation since the group began compiling data on them more than 40 years ago.

“Hateful rhetoric has almost always led to violence,” warned Andy Kang, executive director of the Association of Asian Americans for Justice in Chicago, and it infiltrates politics.

Later in the day, Gov. Pritzker called out the legislators who “showed up at those rallies with those swastikas and those pictures of Hitler — and they were perfectly willing to stand up and speak in front of that crowd. That was OK with them. It’s not OK with me, and they are in fact putting people in danger.”

“You can practice the First Amendment, but there’s a difference between ‘insightful’ with an S and ‘inciteful’ with a C.”

David Goldenberg of the Anti-Defamation League

Goldenberg said the rallies had also attracted extremists distributing debunked conspiracy theories, “and we’ve also seen the presence of extremist groups such as the Three Percenters at the rallies in Springfield.”

Rich Miller of Capitol Fax reported earlier this month that “Three Percenters” refers to “the erroneous belief that only 3 percent of colonists fought against the British during the Revolutionary War — but achieved liberty for everybody.” Capitol Fax reported on ADL charges that one of the sponsors of recent Springfield rallies, the “Orphans of the American Dream Podcast,” is affiliated with those extremists and has a logo depicting a “Don’t Tread on Me” serpent entwined in a Roman numeral III. The group has denied being linked to the Three Percenters, but it displayed a banner with the logo at Saturday’s rally, and Bailey, Miller, and Curran all stood in front of it while making their remarks.

“We have the moral responsibility to say enough is enough,” said Pastor Marvin Hightower of the Liberty Church of Peoria, who is also president of the Peoria NAACP. “We are calling on our elected officials to say enough is enough,” he added. “We are calling on everyone to say enough is enough.”

Jaime di Paolo, CEO of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said his group, like some of the so-called Reopen Illinois protesters, has its own issues with the stay-at-home order. But he called for an evenhanded debate on the issue, not resorting to hate speech.

“You can practice the First Amendment,” Goldenberg said, “but there’s a difference between ‘insightful’ with an S and ‘inciteful’ with a C.”

Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs called out similar protesters at demonstrations earlier this month, saying, “What I saw from a few individuals was nothing less than despicable. I saw signs that were mean-spirited, which brought back memories of the Holocaust. … There's no no place for that anywhere in society. I hope those individuals who displayed those signs can look in the mirror and see whether or not what they've done has helped move this process along.”

Goldenberg said it is critical for anyone attending a rally where protesters resort to Nazi symbols and anti-Semitic speech to speak out against them immediately, saying, “We think it’s incumbent upon community leaders and elected officials to speak out before and during and in the moment when these things occur. That ultimately is how you stop these things from occurring. You call it out when you see it.”

Later in the day, during Monday’s daily coronavirus briefing, Pritzker acknowledged that the protests had raised concerns, saying, “I have to admit that I am worried about my family’s safety. You saw some of the signs, you saw the vehemence … people carrying those signs with swastikas and pictures of Adolf Hitler, references to me and my family. Yeah, I’m concerned.”

But he quickly added, “I am undeterred from the path that we’re on. I think we’re doing the right thing. Again, the vast majority of people in Illinois are doing the right thing, and indeed you’re seeing it in the numbers” of COVID-19 cases, which are on the decline.

He criticized Republican legislators who’ve insisted they won’t wear a mask when the General Assembly reconvenes this week for their “callous disregard” for their colleagues. And he called out Curran for giving out the home address of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin at the Springfield rally, saying he “told people they should go to his house and surround it. That’s dangerous.”