People take part in a protest against Asian hate in New York, the United States, on March 21, 2021. (Photo by Winston Zhou/Xinhua)
At the International Holocaust Remembrance Day event held at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York on January 27, UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a speech. While reviewing this terrible history, he expressed serious concerns about the reality of today’s world. “The alarm bells were already ringing in 1933,” he declared, but “too few bothered to listen, and fewer still spoke out.” He warned that antisemitism, hate speech and misinformation are ever-present. In addition, continued Guterres, there is a growing disregard for human rights and disdain for the rule of law, “surging” white supremacist and Neo-Nazi ideologies, and rising antisemitism – as well as other forms of religious bigotry and hatred. The world must beware “siren songs of hate.”
The date marks the liberation of the Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau by Soviet troops, and commemorates the victims of the Holocaust. Although nearly a century has passed since that sad history, hatred and prejudice have taken on new forms and threaten the peace and tranquility of the world in new ways. “When there is hoarfrost underfoot, solid ice is not far off.” If hate speech is allowed to fester and spread, human society will sooner or later face a more painful consequence.
On this topic, many people can’t help but think of the US. It can be said that Guterres’ alarm bells are mainly ringing for Washington. This is not because people have any prejudice against the US, but because they have a certain understanding and awareness of it. On the same day as Guterres’ speech, President Joe Biden, at a Lunar New Year reception in the White House, acknowledged the increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in response to two recent mass shootings in the Asian American community, stating that the community has experienced “profound hate, pain and…
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