Hate Crime and Speech Forum at CSULB

Though the spotlight was focused on CSULB psychology professor, Kevin MacDonald, the panelists at the Campus Forum on Hate Speech, Hate Crimes and Far Right Movements on Monday focused on hate crimes and speech as a whole in the United States, particularly southern California, according to the Daily 49er.

"Celebrating diversity is such a strong message," said Randy Blazak, director of Hate Crimes Research Network, "It's more than tolerance."

The only comments thus far made by President F. King Alexander on allegations made by several departments that MacDonald is an anti-Semite was in an April 11 e-mail statement sent to the Daily 49er:

"Despite the fact that I personally disagree and even find deplorable some beliefs and opinions expressed by a few individuals on our campus, particularly those ideas that are hurtful of certain groups, I believe as Thomas Jefferson stated that 'errors of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it' ... Universities should also be firmly committed, even at times when it is against popular opinion, to freedom of thought and when we act to restrict opinions from the far right or the far left, then it will not be long before we can no longer call ourselves a university."

The number of hate groups has increased from 602 to 888, since 2000, according to the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, represented by Heidi Beirich at the Forum.

Kevin O'Grady (picture left) from the Anti-Defamation League noted that one of the challenges in tracking hate crimes and speech are the, "existence of lone wolves - the individual white supremacists and skinheads."

Photo from Daily49er.com