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

Alleged Anti-Semitic Professor at CSULB

For several months a professor at CSULB, Kevin MacDonald, has been under the spotlight by several of the departments; some have even issued statements disassociating themselves with MacDonald, according to the Daily 49er. MacDonald has written a three-part series in evolutionary psychology that has been labelled as anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi by civil rights organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center. SPLC actually sent a representative to CSULB in November 2006 to get student and faculty input. According to the Daily 49er,

"MacDonald confirmed publishing his claims that the Jewish race was having a negative effect on Western civilization in 'The Culture of Critique.'"

Ronald Loewe, a professor of anthropology, recently wrote in a department wide e-mail that several departments are deciding on whether or not to write official statements disassociating themselves with MacDonald's allegedly racist teaching tactics.

President F. King Alexander has not responded to CSULB faculty in disassociating himself with MacDonald, but did say to “make sure that we are aspiring to promote true scientific progress and to aggressively challenge all individuals inside and outside of the academy that advance agendas that are premised on inequality, separation, human rights denial and abuses,” according to the preliminary Jewish studies statement sent via e-mail by Jeffrey Blutinger, co-director of the Jewish Studies Program, in response to MacDonald's controversial teachings and writings.

Below is a picture of Kevin MacDonald.

Photo from Daily49er.com