Former President George W. Bush speaks at Eradicate Hate Global Summit

Former President George W. Bush urged Americans to look toward unification as a way to beat back hatred during pre-recorded remarks Monday at the Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Pittsburgh.

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who was Bush’s Secretary of Homeland Security, introduced the 43rd president on the same recording.

“Greetings to those gathered for the 2021 Eradicate Hate Global Summit,” Bush said. “I thank my good friend Tom Ridge and everyone involved with organizing this event for your important work. These days, it can feel like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than those binding us together.

“This (summit) is a bridge across our nation’s deepest divisions, and I thank you for taking up this important cause. May God bless you all and may God bless your work.”

An audience of more than 300 people inside the David L. Lawrence Convention Center applauded following Bush’s statement. His remarks were recorded prior to the death of former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Prior to those remarks, moderator and event co-chair Laura Ellsworth acknowledged Powell’s death from covid-19 complications.

Ellsworth also credited Ridge with hand-delivering an invitation to speak from the summit organizers to the former president.

During his remarks, Ridge discussed the attack on three Jewish congregations at the Tree of Life Synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018. The summit was created as a response to that attack by a lone gunman charged with the shooting deaths of 11 people at the Squirrel Hill synagogue three years ago.

“The Tree of Life massacre was a tragic manifestation of violence, bigotry and hate,” said Ridge. “But of course, it is far from the only example of people torn apart by acts of hatred. In times of moral crisis, neutrality is not an option. We all must take a stand.”

An in-person keynote address was given by former Washington Gov. Gary Locke, the first Chinese American governor in U.S. history. Locke talked about acts of hate perpetrated against Asians, particularly since the start of the pandemic.

Locke said his own experience includes receiving death threats in 2003 after giving the Democratic response to a State of the Union speech made by President George W. Bush, whom Locke described as a friend.

“After giving that address, my family and I received a torrent of racist slurs, hate mail and death threats with a number of those threats specifically referencing my ethnicity and telling me to go back where I came from,” Locke said. “Excuse me? I’m from America. I was born in America. I’m an American.”

Rabbi Hazzan Jeffrey Myers of Tree of Life was among those who made remarks to open the three-day summit.

“Antisemitism is not genetic, one is not born antisemitic,” said Myers. “Your environment trains you to become one. And you make a personal choice to become one on that negative journey. It is, in one sense, the world’s oldest disease.

“Yet, the remarkable thing is that there is a cure.”

Also making opening remarks was Michele Rosenthal, a member of the Eradicate Hate Global Summit steering committee. Rosenthal is well known as the sister of brothers Cecil and David Rosenthal, who were among those who were murdered at the Tree of Life.

“We study this topic of hate so much,” she said. “But the truth is maybe we should just look to the boys, Cecil and David, and how they lived their lives. They were good men who lived good lives. They are my example, and they should be your example, too.”

Many have identified America’s pronounced political divide as one of the things that has fueled the rise in hate speech and hate crimes in the U.S.

“There are so many people that we see now in our daily lives who disagree on one issue and write off people on every issue. That type of civic discourse has to stop,” Ellsworth said.

“In this room, with these global experts who have come together across the miles to work together in a concerted fight against hate, it will stop,” she said. “And in this room, we will focus not on our differences, but on where we can and will come together to find solutions that will move the needle in the enduring fight against hate in all of its forms.”

One of the experts taking part in a discussion of violent extremism was Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. She addressed the root causes of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

“People have become radicalized over the last four years to the point where they were willing to invade the Capitol and, perhaps, stop the transfer of power,” she said. “We should not forget the anti-Democratic nature of these movements and the serious threat they pose to our political system.”

Another keynote address was delivered during the afternoon session by Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League. He identified social media, Facebook in particular, and cable television hosts such as Tucker Carlson as culprits in spreading hate speech.

“When will the rhetoric stop? Until it brings another Pittsburgh, another Christchurch?” he asked.

Among those in the audience was Chuck Herring, director of diversity, equity and inclusion for South Fayette Township School District. He said it was good for Pittsburgh to be at the forefront of a movement to eradicate hate.

“Coming off the horrific nature of what happened three years ago at the Tree of Life, to be able to bring global leaders in to study the rise of hate and how to work toward mitigating and ultimately erasing it, I think it’s phenomenal,” he said.