SOUNDING THE ALARM

Center director an advocate for social justice, anti-hate

A reception for Steven Goldstein, executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, was held June 21 in the library of the Clinton School for Public Service.

Earlier, Goldstein had presented a lecture titled "Anne Frank, Refugees and Social Justice" at the Clinton School. He spoke about his organization's concern for refugees. "I'm as offended over a Muslim ban as I would be over a Jewish ban, an African-American ban or a Latino ban," he said.

He spoke about the spiraling stages of hate: demonization, discrimination, isolation and genocide. "It's our responsibility to sound the alarm before it gets to genocide," he said.

Goldstein also explained that a way to be an effective advocate for social justice was to tell personal stories, not just facts and figures. "The public and politicians remember personal stories better than facts," he said. "It gives credibility."

The lecture wrapped up with a question and answer session, followed by the reception for Goldstein and invited guests in the school library, where they enjoyed wine and hors d'oeuvres from the Clinton Library's Restaurant Forty Two.

According to a news release from the Clinton Foundation, which sponsored the lecture, Goldstein is the former leader of Garden State Equality (New Jersey's statewide organization for lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender equality). He is also a former associate professor of law and political science at Rutgers University in Newark, an Emmy-winning television news producer, a senior staff member in both houses of Congress and a lawyer for the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, and then communications director for the late U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.).

High Profile on 06/25/2017

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