Combatting Hate

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There are things we can do, all of us, that are not difficult, or expensive, to help combat hate and feelings of despair and hopelessness.

Performing Random Acts of Kindness and making an effort Pay it forward both are small but powerful ways of making things better.

Remember to Work at empathy.
On one hand, you might identify as an empathetic person, open to feeling another person's pain. You may worry that we're losing our capacity as a species to care for strangers amidst intense and sometimes violent political, social, and cultural polarization. Then again, the prospect of empathizing with, say, racists and neo-Nazis who get flattering news coverage is a line you're unwilling to cross. Perhaps, even if you still believe in empathy, there are just moments when you see someone in need and, for whatever reason, can't muster a compassionate response.




Here are some others. Small gestures, like smiling, speaking up when you see something wrong, lending a helping hand or a supporting voice, can make huge differences.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has a list of Ten Ways to Fight Hate: A Community Response Guide. You can download the guide as a free .pdf file.

The Southern Poverty Law Center Guide has a list of every day actions, small things with big effects. You should read it. But here are a few:

  • Pick up the phone. Call friends and colleagues. Host a neighborhood or community meeting. Speak up in church. Suggest some action.
  • Sign a petition. Attend a vigil. Lead a prayer.
  • Repair acts of hate-fueled vandalism, as a neighborhood or a community.
  • Use whatever skills and means you have. Offer your print shop to make fliers. Share your musical talents at a rally. Give your employees the afternoon off to attend.

Speak up and speak out.
 
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