On September 4, ADL’s Senior Vice President of Programs George Selim spoke with a group of NextGen young professionals about the one-year anniversary of Charlottesville. Selim gave behind the scenes information about ADL’s role around Charlottesville in the lead up, during the event and after, including new programs and initiatives ADL has launched to address the current state of extremism.
Discussing the changing nature of white supremacy one year after the Unite The Right Rally in Charlottesville, Selim explained that ADL’s Center on Extremism identified approximately 250 white supremacists from at least 36 states who traveled to Charlottesville in 2017. This reflects a new generation now emboldened and willing to publicly chant racist and anti-Semitic slogans.
Selim highlighted ADL’s cyber hate work to counter the growing threat of extremism with the Center for Technology and Society in Silicon Valley, which is now doing groundbreaking research into making the connection between cyber hate and the rise of hate incidents in our communities. The Center has created an Online Hate Index to understand how hate spreads in forums like Reddit.
Selim concluded the briefing by explaining that the threat posed by extremist groups has increased, but ADL’s resolve is strengthened and our collective impact can reverse the trends.
The event was hosted by Salvin Leadership Program alumna — now Glass Leadership Institute — Jennifer Hannon and her husband Jim. The group included a group of young leaders, some alumni of the program and some newcomers to ADL program. To learn more about ADL’s NextGen programs and/or the Glass Leadership Institute, contact Bettina Ho at bho@adl.org.
For a more complete rundown of ADL’s accomplishments over the past year, see ADL’s SVP of Programs Speaks to Regional Board