My maternal grandfather was a strong presence in our home throughout my formative years. He lost most of his family in the Holocaust. His sister made it to Israel. He was able to flee with his wife and daughter — my mother — to safety in Havana, Cuba.
In my home, an act spurred by anti-Semitism anywhere in the world brought fear; if it happened somewhere, it could happen anywhere.
My friends had sleepovers, went to sleep-away camps, and enjoyed such away-from-home traditions. I did not. My mother’s fear — having seen children leave home and not return — compelled her to parent differently.
The everlasting memory of the Holocaust heightened our awareness and increased our vigilance against any act of hate, what it meant, and where it could lead.
We understood, early on, that a hate crime is different than most other crimes. The circle of victims knows no circumference. Yes, certainly there are those who endure the tragedy more acutely than others — those who have lost loved ones.
Yet, the hate crime impacts us all, everywhere. It is spurred not by what one has done or not done, by what one has or does not have. It is spurred by who one is.
In August 1999, I was serving as the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles when Buford O. Furrow, Jr. went into a Jewish Community Center and shot at 50 children. Three were wounded, as was a camp counselor and one of the center’s staff members. Miraculously, no lives were lost there.
But about an hour later, a postal employee was not as fortunate; Furrow shot and killed him while he was on his mail route. Furrow, pledging white supremacy, killed the postal employee because he was Filipino.
The image of children from the Jewish Community Center holding hands as they were guided across the street to safety gripped the world. The funeral for the postal employee was attended by people from near and far.
The horror of that hate-fueled act of violence in the Granada Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles remains with us today. Just as the Tree of Life synagogue tragedy in the Jewish community of Pittsburgh three years ago today still shakes us to this moment. As does the tragedy in the surrounding area of Atlanta seven months ago. Too many communities across our country have experienced terror borne of anti-Semitism, racism, anti-Asian malice, Islamophobia, homophobia and many other forms of prejudice.
But these tragedies, and sadly the rise in hate crimes everywhere, also drive us to greater action. In partnership with communities across our country, we in the Department of Homeland Security are committed to translating immeasurable grief into unwavering steps to root out, respond to and combat hate wherever it persists.
The actions we take are founded on the pillar of partnership. Partnering with communities and groups everywhere to prevent tragedies from occurring, responding ably when they do, building resilience and safeguarding our rights and liberties.
Recognizing what violence borne of hate truly is, President Joe Biden issued the first-ever National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism.
We established the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, or CP3, to empower and equip communities to build their capacity to identify behaviors and stop violence from occurring in the first instance.
As part of that effort, we want to reach family members, friends, classmates, co-workers, clergy, teachers and others. Those who live in the community are the best to recognize and stop a hateful act.
Educators, social service professionals, non-governmental organizations and community leaders are all part of the solution. We need to develop the best programs that most effectively strengthen our neighborhoods, places of worship and institutions. We are training school safety personnel on how to assess and respond to threats.
There is a rise in hate in our country and around the world. There is a rise in crimes borne of hate. But there is also an increasing drive to action. By our department, across the federal government, by so many across our nation and the world — in partnership with one another.
The actions we take to eradicate hate as community members have important complements: the attribute of resolve and the pride of identity. Resolve to continue the fight against hate for as long as hate exists. Pride in who we are and in what we believe.
We in the Department of Homeland Security are resolved, and we are proud to partner with the communities we serve. This is how we honor the victims of hate, defeat the forces of fear and forge a more tolerant, just, fair and peaceful tomorrow.
Alejandro N. Mayorkas is secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
First Published: October 27, 2021, 4:00 a.m.
Updated: October 27, 2021, 2:51 p.m.
