A Pledge for Kindness

By Alexander Valdes | Published by February 15, 2020

One of the most powerful forms of expression is through words, and it is through words that people will unify. On Jan. 30 inside the Green Lane building, an event was held by the Lesniak Institute in collaboration with the Holocaust Resource Center called “Standing up for the Other” dealing with the topic of anti-Semitic violence and racism, in order to spread a pledge that promotes people to aid one another and stand up for those that may be targeted for their ethnicity, race, or religion.  

Introductions were given by Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, who goes on to show his displeasure towards the growing anti-Semitic and racist acts happening within New Jersey, the United States, and across the globe. 

“How can anyone hate Jews who have suffered the loss of six million of their faith during the Holocaust,” Lesniak asked. “Why do people have that much hate that they would attack Jews just because they’re Jewish, gays because they’re gay, Muslims because they’re Muslim, Hispanics because they’re Hispanic, and the list goes on.” 

Lesniak goes on to encourage people to combat hate by standing up for one another, a gesture to show that acts of anti-Semitism or racism that are meant to divide can be fought back with the very act of unifying and aiding one another. Kean University President Dr. Dawood Farahi gave welcoming remarks thereafter and went on to explain the purpose behind the Holocaust Resource Center. Being that teachers are trained to educate students to never forget atrocities like the Holocaust, which was history’s greatest act of violence towards a group of innocent people, that were persecuted and murdered simply for their beliefs. 

“Bigotry, anti-Semitism, and like all other viruses, you can’t kill them,” Farahi said. “The only solution to it from my perspective is education. You need to teach people about what happened.” 

The New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Singh Grewal came up to talk about his views of the ever-growing acts of hatred and violence and what he believes the pledge taken by everyone at the attendance of the meeting means. 

“We are no doubt in this moment living through a difficult time. We are seeing today not just across the country and other places, but in this state people being targeted for no other reason than the way they look, what they believe, who they love, where they come from,” said Attorney General Grewal. “The most important thing is what we’re doing tonight which is treating an act of hate through this pledge against any one of our communities as an act of hate against all of our communities.” 

The Attorney General went on to explain his experiences with people that were affected by acts of violence such as the ones that occurred in Jersey City and how things like bigotry can deeply affect the lives of innocent people who are attacked for simply being born the way they are or choosing what they wish to believe in.  

Grewal also goes on to explain how he is taking steps towards improving upon hate violence through means of law enforcement. But what the pledge really hopes to convey is that one doesn’t need to be in a position of power in order to make a difference, one just needs to be willing to speak up and be willing to act for others. 

 

---