Stern Attends White House Summit on Countering Hate Crimes
On September 15, 2022, Jessica Stern, Research Professor at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, attended the White House’s “United We Stand Summit,” which aimed to examine and counteract hate-fueled violence in the United States.
President Biden hosted the Summit at the White House to address the corrosive effects of hate-fueled violence on our democracy and public safety, highlight the response of the Biden-Harris Administration and communities nationwide to these dangers, and put forward a shared, bipartisan vision for a more united America. In attendance were a bipartisan group of federal, state, and local officials, civil rights groups, business leaders, and others with a keynote address by President Joe Biden.
In discussing her experience at the Summit, Stern said it was remarkable to see the President and Vice-President both in attendance – an indication of how seriously the Biden Administration takes the problem of hate-fueled violence. There were several initiatives announced, including federal funding to help educational institutions counter hate-based threats. She said it was especially inspiring to hear from victims of hate crimes who had come to recognize the pain of their perpetrators, and that, as one person put it, “hurt people hurt people.”
For more on the United We Stand Summit, visit the White House’s official website. The Summit can be watched below.
Professor Jessica Stern is a Research Professor at Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies. She is the co-author of ISIS: The State of Terror and the author of Denial: A Memoir of Terror, Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill, as well as The Ultimate Terrorists. Learn more about Professor Stern on her faculty profile.