By DEEPA BHARATH | dbharath@scng.com
One of those incidents was at San Bernardino Valley College when Patriot Front, an “alt-right” group, part of the white nationalist movement, distributed propaganda that read: “Better dead than red,” “Revolution is tradition” and “United we stand.” The incident was never reported to campus administrators or campus police, said spokesman Paul Bratulin. However, someone had reported it to the ADL.
“We do distinguish between speech that is offensive to others but protected by the First Amendment and speech that crosses the line into targeted harassment or threats, or that creates a pervasively hostile environment for vulnerable students,” he said.
The ADL report comes at a time when Riverside and San Bernardino counties have seen a number of incidents involving high school students flashing or posting symbols associated with racism such as swastikas and Confederate flags, as well as a racial epithet typically used against African Americans, online and on campuses.
It’s not coincidental or accidental when young people are seen with these types of hateful symbols, said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino.
“It’s not just the fact that white supremacy and prejudice are being mainstreamed, but among youth, there is also the need to be hurtfully shocking,” he said. “These are the images that go viral online. Bigotry is now cool for young people who feel that society is cleaving away from them. It’s an expression of in-your-face tribalism.”
The worldwide white supremacist movement is “attracting young people especially at a time when there is nationalist sentiment coupled with deliberate indifference,” Levin added. “When you have diminution of our civic values, what do you get? Nazis and confederate flags.”
The ADL says three white supremacist groups — Patriot Front, American Identity Movement and the New Jersey European Heritage Association — were responsible for about 90% of the propaganda activity in 2019.
Over the past few months in the Inland Empire, there have been several incidents at high schools where students have displayed symbols associated with racism. Last week, a photo circulating on social media showed students at Riverside Unified’s Martin Luther King High School posing with a swastika and a Confederate flag, standing in front of a Trump 2020 banner. Some students in the photo were seen smiling and at least one flashed what appeared to be a white power hand sign.
At Temecula Valley High School, senior Solona Husband was targeted twice with a racial epithet used against African Americans. In November, three Norco High School volleyball players were suspended along with two other boys who wrote racial epithets on parked cars on campus and then posted it to Snapchat, a social media network. And that came just a month after officials for the football team at Carter High School in Rialto, which is predominantly black and Hispanic, and the Yucaipa High team, which is mostly white, hurled racial slurs at one another.
The King High students’ photo had little to do with white supremacy and everything to do with poor judgment, said Tim Walker, assistant superintendent of pupil services for Riverside Unified School District. The students’ actions do not reflect the values of the school district, which strives to promote inclusiveness and equity, he said.
“I can’t believe that (white supremacy) was the intent of these students who had gathered in someone’s home,” he said. “Young people do things thinking it’s funny, not understanding the ramifications of their actions. Social media doesn’t help. Some of the students have been very remorseful. This is an opportunity to learn and grow.”
Ignorance and poor judgment may be at play, “but to invoke extremist narratives, evidenced by the symbols used in this photo, conveys at the very least grave insensitivity, if not a clear expression of hate,” said Joanna Mendelson, a senior investigative researcher with the ADL Center on Extremism.
“Hopefully this incident can serve as a jumping-off point for the students, the school and the community as a teachable moment for self-reflection and change,” she said.
Similar incidents on high school campuses across Southern California and the United States are happening at a time when white supremacist propaganda, intolerance and political polarization are surging, as the nation heads toward a contentious presidential election. Youth are the most vulnerable when it comes to propaganda, Mendelson said.
“The virtual space is a classroom for indoctrination into some of the most heinous beliefs and conspiracies,” she said. “And extremists have weaponized hate through memes and forums to help breed like-minded adherence.”
One of the “nefarious tactics” used by white supremacists, she said, is to use humor and satire to “downplay the perniciousness of the content.” The proof of this can be seen in many incidents where high school students are either laughing, giggling or smiling in photos as they display such symbols, she added.
“Within the extremist subculture, there is a trolling and bigoted humor that is part and parcel of their interactions,” Mendelson said. “When these images, content and actions are downplayed and mocked, we run the risk of becoming desensitized to the content.”
This is the time for parents, educators and communities to come together to educate their children and set boundaries for acceptable behavior, Mendelson said.
“Hate thrives in a vacuum where parents, leaders and communities are not directly addressing these concerns in a kind of clear way,” she said. “When we see intolerance in our schools, we have the opportunity for a teachable moment and we need to make use of every such opportunity.”