When an individual, a sect, a clique or a nation hates and despises
another individual, sect, clique or nation
he or they simply do not know the objects of their hatred. 
Ignorance is at the bottom of it.
Paul Harris

Politics hates a vacuum.
If it isn’t filled with hope,
someone will fill it with fear.
Naomi Klein

The combination of hatred and technology
is the greatest danger threatening mankind.
Simon Wiesenthal

For evil to flourish it requires only good men to do nothing.
Simon Wiesenthal

For today’s Wednesday Whoa, I give you four quotes instead of the normal three.  All four really give you something to think about.  For all four, ignorance is really the key.  If we are ignorant of other people, we may fear them.  If we fear them, it’s easy to blame them for problems. If we blame them for our problems, we start to hate them.

Doing something doesn’t mean violence.  Doing something means to protest, yes.  But protesting doesn’t mean violence.  Think of the elegant protest of Colin Kaepernick who took a knee during the National Anthem to protest the loss of so many black lives.  This year, the Cleveland Browns and members of other teams took up that protest.

How To Help

If you want to do something, but don’t know where to start, here are some more Organizations that you should be aware of.

The Anti-Defamation League:  Their mission is to stop the defamation of Jewish people.

Planned Parenthood:  In times of extremism, Planned Parenthood gets the short end of the stick.  Support them.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center:  Global human rights center confronting anti-Semitism, hate, and terrorism.

NAACP:  Seeks to end race based discrimination and protect voter rights.

Additional Organizations:  This link goes to a list of additional organizations that fight against hate and ignorance.  Please check them out.

You don’t have to support all of the groups that I’ve mentioned.  But it would be good to find one or two that truly resonate with you and then support them in any way possible.  And continue your support for them.  Hate doesn’t go away in a week.  It takes time.  It takes healing. It takes education.  But we need to do the necessary and painful work in order to move forward.