MCC Daily Tribune

Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Project Student Leaders Respond to Hate Speech

The Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Project unequivocally condemns the hate speech recently shared on social media by an MCC student. While we are deeply troubled by this public expression of hate, it only strengthens our resolve to educate and advocate for those being threatened. Diversity is the norm of nature, not the exception. As Project leaders, we believe it is our job to promote our school's diversity and strongly denounce any threats against it. We believe that marginalized students should feel safe in our halls, and we regret that they have been let down. We are all too well aware that hate speech often transitions into action; all genocides reveal this core lesson. Historical lessons demand contemporary obligations and we therefore affirm our commitment to the Project's mission: to spotlight injustice, attempt to learn firsthand from the stories of the oppressed, and educate others so that our communities become fully inclusive and focused on genuine equality.

We invite you to join us for several upcoming events, all of which focus on the issues of hate speech and free speech:

Film & Discussion: Denial
Downtown Campus: Wednesday, November 1 ∙ Rm TBA, 3:30pm
Brighton Campus: Thursday, November 2 ∙ Empire Room (3-209), 6pm
Based on the acclaimed book History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier, Denial recounts Deborah E. Lipstadt's (Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz) legal battle for historical truth against David Irving (Cannes Award winner Timothy Spall), who accused her of libel when she declared him a Holocaust denier. In the English legal system in Defamation, the burden of proof is on the accused, therefore it was up to Lipstadt and her legal team to prove the essential truth that the Holocaust occurred. Running time 109 minutes.

Holocaust Denial: From the Classroom to the Courtroom, with Deborah E. Lipstadt, PhD
26th Annual Kristallnacht Program
Brighton Campus: Wednesday, November 8 ∙ Monroe A & B (3-205), 7pm
FREE tickets available at www.monroecctickets.com
Rather than fading away into obscurity, Holocaust deniers recently have become alarmingly emboldened. Their increasingly public insistence in questioning the most fundamental and undeniable facts of the Holocaust has widened the gap between knowledge and myth. As the world's foremost expert on denial and the havoc wreaked on the historical record by "revisionists," Deborah Lipstadt, PhD, commands an exceptional understanding of deniers' tactics and methods to dispel the ignorance and racism they inflame. Author of the seminal Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory, she was sued for libel by infamous denier David Irving. Her subsequent legal triumph stands as a significant testament in the battle for historical truth. The 2016 film Denial, based on Lipstadt's History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier, was nominated for Best British film at the 2017 British Academy Film Awards. Lipstadt currently serves as the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University. She was a consultant to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and served two terms on its US Holocaust Memorial Council. Hosted in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester and the JCC Lane Dworkin Jewish Book Festival.

Free Speech, Hate Speech: 12th Annual Voices of Vigilance Program
Featuring Brian Levin, Esq., Director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, California State University, San Bernardino
Brighton Campus: Thursday, March 22 ∙ Monroe A & B (3-205), 7pm
Downtown Campus: Thursday, March 22 ∙ TBD
Criminologist and civil rights attorney Brian Levin is a professor of criminal justice and director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino where he specializes in analysis of hate crime, terrorism and legal issues. Previously, Professor Levin served as Associate Director-Legal Affairs of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Klanwatch/Militia Task Force in Montgomery, Al.; Legal Director of the Center for the Study of Ethnic and Racial Violence in Newport Beach, Ca. and as a corporate litigator for the law firm of Irell & Manella. He was also a New York City Police Officer in the Harlem and Washington Heights sections of Manhattan during the crack wars of the 1980s. Mr. Levin is a graduate of Stanford Law School, where he was awarded the Block Civil Liberties Award for his work on hate crime. He is the author or co-author of books, scholarly articles, training manuals and studies on extremism and hate crime. He was also the author of influential Supreme Court briefs in the Supreme Court case of Wisconsin v. Mitchell in 1992-3, where he analyzed criminological data establishing hate crime's severity. His book, The Limits of Dissent, is about the Constitution and domestic terrorism. He is presently writing another book about the hate crime and extremism. His research has been cited by The California Court of Appeals and in numerous scholarly journals and major law reviews. Prof. Levin has testified before Congress, the US Commission on Civil Rights and various state legislatures on hate and terrorism. He has presented instruction and/or advised the Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Department of Justice, Treasury Dept., U.S. Customs, American Bar Association, American Prosecutor's Research Institute, National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, National Bar Association, National College of District Attorneys, National District Attorneys Association, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, International Association of Chiefs of Police and numerous police departments, colleges, universities and human rights organizations. Mr. Levin is a court certified expert on extremism in the United States and England. He has appeared on every network and cable television evening news broadcast and various network magazine shows on the subjects of civil rights, criminal law, and extremism. He has also appeared in every major American newspaper, newsmagazine and wire service.

Alyssa Hoadley and Shalini Parasnis-Samar
Presidents of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Project's Student Group

Regina Fabbro
Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Project
10/13/2017