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A Few Clouds Bellmore-Merrick Democratic Club hosts informative 'Hate Has No Home Here' panel discussion
In light of recent events that have brought the issue of hate to the forefront in local communities, the Bellmore-Merrick Democratic Club hosted a panel last week featuring key leaders, to encourage an open discussion about these incidents in order to figure out solutions.
In late July, swastikas were found spray-painted on a playground in Merrick, and just last week, Temple Beth-Am of Merrick and Bellmore received a bomb threat, later deemed not credible by Nassau County police. Beyond the immediate area, a boy in Riverhead was subjected to racial slurs in an incident that left Long Islanders everywhere unsettled.
“I don’t know how we’ve gotten to this place, but we have to address it,” Democratic Club President Claudia Borecky said at the Sept. 21 meeting. “We’ve invited a panel of experts, to hopefully teach us how we can help them fight hate on Long Island.”
The “Hate Has No Home Here” panel featured Donna Bailor, who discussed antisemitism; Christine Liu, from the Chinese-American community; Laura Harding, president of Erase Racism; Kerrie O’Neill, of the LGBT Network; Jasmine Pena, of the Long Island Latino Alliance; and Maria Shaikh, of Pakistani American Community Excellence, also known as PACE.
The two-hour-long event at the Merrick Golf Course attracted dozens of residents of Bellmore, Merrick and surrounding towns.
Bailor, who is active in the Five Towns Jewish community, according to the panel’s moderator, Dave Denenberg, said that of all the groups of people that are affected by racism, bias and other types of hate, a way to combat it would be to rally together.
“Let’s be clear,” Bailor said. “We need all of us. Because despite the differences in our situations, we are more effective together than we are apart. We must make the effort to understand each other better than we do now. Groups fighting for the same goal should reach out and connect, form alliances and advocate for each other.”
Bailor emphasized the importance of calling out hate when you see it, and aligning yourself with government leaders that share your ideas. “Vote your beliefs,” she said. “I also want to say, on a personal level, that advocating for what you believe in is good for you, gives you purpose, introduces you to fabulous people, exercises your brain — and keeps your skills sharp.”
Liu, an attorney who formerly worked for the Department of Homeland Security, is running for town council in the Town of North Hempstead. She spoke about the increase in hate crimes against Asians, especially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, when the virus was referred to with derogatory nicknames such as “Kung Flu” and the “China Virus.”
According to the 2020 census, the Asian population in New York has grown 37.6 percent since 2010. Liu said that 11 percent of Nassau County’s population is Asian. Education is key in fighting hate, she said, and incorporating Asian American and Pacific Islander curriculum in classrooms would help.
“The only way that we can fight this is if our children are being taught to respect one another and to understand each other’s histories and civic impacts in this country,” Liu said. “From the children, and then moving forward, is the positive change that we need.
“When we understand each other’s histories and backgrounds, we will know that we are more alike than we are unalike,” she added. “Leadership matters. Our words matter.”
Harding, of Erase Racism, a regional organization that promotes racial equity on Long Island, said that all groups of people are harmed when one group is affected by structural racism that is woven into the very fabric of our society. Historical education on how our communities came to be, Harding said, would help invoke positive change.
Shaikh, of PACE, a law student at Hofstra University, explained how Islamophobia — the irrational fear or hatred of Islam and Muslims — manifests as discrimination, prejudice and violence against them. She noted several instances of Muslims being told they need to “go back to their own country.”
“For most of us, especially people of my generation, the United States is our only home,” Shaikh said. “So when someone tells us to go back to our own country, it’s so hurtful. I’m here becoming an immigration attorney so that I can serve the constituents of this country — so I can give back to the country that has given me the world. What other home is another home than the United States for me?”
Shaikh agreed with her fellow panelists that racism and bias affects everyone. “The issue is all the same,” she said. “Hate impacts almost every community.”
Denenberg led a brief question-and-answer session in which the panelists discussed ways in which people can work with public officials, and even school boards, to see change through in their communities.
A full video of the event was posted on the club’s Facebook page, Bellmore-Merrick Democratic Club. For more, go to BellmoreMerrickDemocraticClub.com.
