Eradicate Hate Global Summit returns to Pittsburgh with politically fueled violence and hate speech front and center
Laura Esposito / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
In the lead-up to November's presidential election, Pennsylvania, the country's most consequential swing state, has seen a surge of increasingly hate-filled speech, mirroring a trend in communities nationwide.
In September, Pittsburgh police officers found Nazi banners strung from several of the city’s bridges. For weeks, anti-immigration sentiment has dogged the small Monongahela River town of Charleroi after former President Donald Trump claimed the borough’s Haitian population had left the borough “virtually bankrupt.”
Protests against Israel’s war in Gaza proliferated on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus in the spring and summer, leading to an increase in reports of antisemitic assaults and vandalism.
In the midst of the ongoing tension, hate-speech experts, leaders, and survivors of hate crimes from around the globe will convene in Pittsburgh this week for the fourth-annual Eradicate Hate Summit, what organizers call the most comprehensive anti-hate conference in the world.
The summit, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, will run from Monday through Wednesday. It is taking place two weeks after the one-year mark of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack in Israel and the same week as the sixth anniversary of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, where 11 people across three congregations were killed while worshipping in Squirrel Hill
Mark Nordenberg, a co-founder of the summit and former chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, said the event was created in response to the synagogue shooting, which remains the deadliest act of antisemitism on American soil.
“People here were so emotionally jarred by the fact that this kind of attack could occur in Pittsburgh in one of our peaceful, diverse, happy neighborhoods; there was a collective concern to respond,” he said in an interview last week with the Post-Gazette.
Similar feelings underscore this year’s summit, leaders say, as it occurs against a backdrop of two assassination attempts against Trump, the first of which occurred less than 40 miles away in July at Butler Farm Show grounds, leaving one person dead, two injured and Trump injured and bloodied.
"The message and the learning of the summit is more important now than ever before, especially for the Pittsburgh region and the state of Pennsylvania as a whole," said Brette Steele, who was named president of the Eradicate Hate Global Summit in March.
Ms. Steele brings to the presidency a Preventing Targeted Violence program, which she created in 2020 at the McCain Institute. The program has worked on multiple initiatives to help stop the spread of hate-fueled violence and terrorism, including one that teaches caregivers and other adults how to keep youth safe from online messaging that could inspire hate-based violence.
Since she assumed her role, Ms. Steele and her team have focused on expanding the summit and implementing new year-round programs to combat hate. Details on the programs will be announced at the summit, Ms. Steele said.
“The summit is our marquee event, and I want everyone to join us for the summit next week, but then stay involved throughout the calendar year in our full suite of programs.,” Ms. Steele said.
The inaugural summit was held amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. More than 100 experts from around the world attended. This year features 60 sessions with more than 279 speakers and at least 1,000 attendees in-person and virtually.
“Even though they're coming from across the country and around the world, there’s a kind of camaraderie that [we’re] trying to play a role [combatting] a problem that unfortunately seems to be becoming increasingly important,” Mr. Nordenberg said.
Despite a nationwide decrease in violent crime last year — including the most significant drop in murder in two decades — hate crimes have been on the rise in the United States for several years, with more than 11,000 incidents recorded in 2023, according to a September report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Since its inception, the summit has drawn survivors of hate-based violence from around the world to Pittsburgh. Attendees last year included survivors of the mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, that occurred just five months after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. Fifty-one people died in that attack.
This year, politically fueled violence will be at the forefront of the agenda, Ms. Steele said.
"It's impossible to live in Pittsburgh without realizing the saliency of these issues, but we're coming together at the summit to focus on solutions to take that pain and make it a purpose," Ms. Steele said.
The summit's first day will focus on a "foundational understanding" of hate-fueled violence and issues most prevalent in today's society, Ms. Steele said.
Monday's keynote speakers include Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, who currently serves as the White House homeland security adviser, and Tara Levine, president of the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, who is tasked with scaling the organization's efforts to combat Jewish hate.
A panel of experts will also converge for a new session titled "Reducing the risk of political hate-fueled violence," which aims to "illuminate the current threat landscape for political violence around the world," according to a news release.
A Monday morning panel including survivors of the Squirrel Hill synagogue shooting will discuss their efforts through their REACH program (Remember, Educate, and Combat Hate). “They will share their experiences and explain why firsthand survivor narratives can change hearts and minds through deep empathy and vicarious resilience,” they said in their release.
Ms. Steele said the second day of the summit will center on success stories.
"We're looking at every level of prevention, whether it's student-led organizing on campus, whether it's national campaigns — how do you reach people who need help most," Ms. Steele said.
A new session that aims to "elevate the stories of those campuses where peace prevailed [amid protests over the Israel-Hamas war]" is also slated to take place. Gabrielle Giffords, a former Arizona congresswoman and shooting survivor who now leads Giffords, the gun violence prevention organization she co-founded, will also deliver a keynote speech.
The third and final day will focus on "intersection," Ms. Steele said. Panelists ranging from veterans, teachers, law enforcement officials, and mental health professionals will discuss the most pressing issues in their respective fields and collaborate on solutions.
"No matter who you are, no matter where you come from, you have a role to play in preventing hate-filled violence," Ms. Steele said.