After recent spate of hate crimes, Congress must take a leadership role

Saturday’s massacre of Jewish congregants at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh is, sadly, just the latest in a string of attacks by white nationalists and white supremacists emboldened by the current resident of the White House and his enablers.

It’s past time for Congress to hold emergency hearings on hate crimes and domestic terrorism undertaken by individuals with white supremacist views, and I and other members have again asked the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee to do so. 

{mosads}The tragedy in Pittsburgh, in which 11 congregants were killed and several police officers were wounded, is likely the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in American history. 

Alarmingly, it capped an already chilling week in which Trump critics across the country – including America’s first African-American president, a former female secretary of State, three African-American members of Congress and two prominent philanthropists of Jewish descent — were sent pipe bombs by a racist zealot and ardent Trump supporter. The Trump supporter also sent a bomb to CNN, a news organization President Trump regularly treats with aggressive hostility.

Midway through last week, another extremist shot and killed African-American patrons of a Kroger grocery store in Kentucky after reportedly looking for potential victims at an African-American church. Underscoring his deadly, racist intent, he reportedly told a bystander, “whites don’t shoot whites.”

I’ve said for over a year that Trump demonstrated not just bad judgment but a sickening bigotry and cowardice last year when he stated there were fine people on both sides of a Neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, Va., some of whom shouted “Jews will not replace us.” He and his enablers’ not-so-subtle dog whistles to white nationalists are increasing the risk of radicalization and inciting violence against innocent minorities. 

As we’ve seen in parts of Europe, the rise of ultra-nationalist groups modeling their actions on the success of 20th Century right-wing fascist movements is a growing trend. The last time these xenophobic, racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic forces wielded political power, we had to fight World War II to defeat them.

The threat of white supremacism and extreme, far-right nationalism is a grave and growing danger to our liberties in this country. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the number of anti-Semitic incidents rose 57 percent last year along with a rise in anti-Semitic online harassment. According to the NAACP, hate crime in America’s ten largest cities recently reached its highest level in a decade, with racially motivated crimes comprising 60 percent of overall crimes. 

As America moves forward, we should remember those slain in Pittsburgh and Louisville whose lives, liberty and pursuit of happiness were taken by those whose idea of America is ugly and violent. Those who were victimized by hatred led lives we should aspire to — working together in a community, showing kindness to others and, generally, being good citizens.   

Congress must lead the way and protect minorities who are the regular victims of racial and religious prejudice, as the president won’t. 

Congressman Cohen, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Law, represents Tennessee’s 9^th Congressional District.