Florida leaders need to unite against hate speech and hate crime | Opinion

On Aug. 28, a cowardly white supremacist murdered three Black Floridians in Jacksonville because of the color of their skin. While many leaders condemned the killings and offered aid in the wake of the tragedy, fewer condemned the hateful rhetoric responsible for radicalizing the killer.  Hate speech is a life or death issue for Black and Brown communities and impacts the entire state – regardless of our race. It is our responsibility as leaders to ensure all Floridians – no matter where they live or the color of their skin – can live and work in safety, free from hate violence. Florida needs real leaders who will lead from a place of unity and solidarity, not fear and division.

It is no surprise that a rise in documented hate speech in the U.S. has correlated with a marked rise in hate crimes targeting Black and Brown people.  While the propaganda of hate groups is radicalizing and emboldening white supremacists,  anti-Black rhetoric from right-wing politicians and media personalities is also to blame. In Florida, we’ve seen certain leaders use “anti-woke” dog whistles around critical race theory (CRT), Black history,  and diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to win elections and maintain their power. They use cultural wedge issues to divert attention from their lack of public policy solutions to key issues facing working Floridians: inflation, energy prices and housing prices. By peddling fear and division, they create an environment of hostility that enables killers like the Jacksonville shooter to believe their actions are justified and welcomed.  This is unacceptable, and we must hold Florida leaders who parrot racist rhetoric and use our state government to ‘other’ communities of color accountable.

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All leaders — Black, White and Brown — must disavow hate speech and support policies that ensure safety is real for all Florida communities. This is because hate crimes have a cost for every community — not just the specific victims targeted.  Hate crimes often harm the mental health of survivors, negatively impact the financial health of a region, and can spark deadlier ‘copy-cat’ killings in other communities. When we allow fear, racial resentment and hate speech to grow unchecked, tragedies like Uvalde, Buffalo, and Jacksonville are the result.

If we want Florida communities to thrive, leaders must provoke our neighborhoods to come together across race and place. An attack on one community should be viewed as an attack on all communities, and actively building cross-racial solidarity is one way we can prevent the spread of hate in our state.

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Unfortunately, we’ve seen the antithesis of leadership from officials like Governor Ron DeSantis.  His anti-Black agenda penalizes school districts for discussing the history and context of white supremacist violence like the Jacksonville shooting. In an effort to woo the nation’s conservatives, he has espoused racist rhetoric championing the roll back of civil rights, voting rights, and democratic protections for those who disagree with him. He has also refused to work with legal gun owners to address the rise of mass shootings in the state.

On the contrary, State Representative Angie Nixon has been one of the most vocal leaders who has shown courage in calling out racist rhetoric  and hate speech.  In an interview at a Jacksonville prayer vigil, Nixon said,          "We must be clear, it was not just racially motivated, it was racist violence that has been perpetuated by rhetoric and policies designed to attack Black people, period.”

To be sure, hate crimes are tragedies that are often hard to prevent. Law enforcement and other public safety agencies with limited resources often can’t prevent the loss of life that occurs when racial violence is perpetrated. What leaders can do is provoke others to solidarity, not fear.  Let’s condemn the rhetoric of hate groups and Right-wing extremists, and actively denounce leaders who use division, fear and racism for their own personal profit. Together, we can do it.

Alphonso Mayfield, of West Palm Beach, is the president of Florida Public Services Union, representing over 20,000 workers across the state.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida leaders must oppose hate speech as cause of racial violence