'Stand Up, Speak Up, Howard': Stories of Discrimination Surface at Columbia Forum

COLUMBIA, MD — Students, elected officials and other community members spoke out against hate-related speech in Howard County during a forum called "Stand Up, Speak Up Howard" Tuesday night in Columbia. Hundreds attended the forum at Howard Community College, with students and parents stating they were "disappointed" and would not stand for hate speech according to WJZ, which reported the goal was for community leaders to listen to concerns about racism in the county.

One man at the "Stand Up, Speak Up Howard" forum who attended Wilde Lake High School said his peers keyed swastikas into his car and drew them on his papers because he was Jewish, according to WUSA9.

The forum was designed to address a recent spike in hateful behavior targeting people based on their faith or race in Howard County, where Oakland Mills, River Hill, Atholton and Mount Hebron high schools have had students make racist posts on social media that have left an impact on the student body.

Some students have said they were fearful of going to school as a result of the statements made by their peers. In the most recent case, at Oakland Mills High School, a white student alluded to shooting someone based on skin color in a social media post.

One of the attendees at Tuesday night's forum attributed the rise in hate speech to the political climate.

Congressman Elijah Cummings told the TV station he believed the Presidential election "caused a lot of people who may have had these negative feelings to suddenly begin to express them."

Cummings; Howard County Delegation Chair Vanessa Atterbeary; Delegates Frank Turner and Terri Hill; Council Chair Calvin Ball; Pastor Larry Walker; Rev. Robert Turner; Candace Dodson-Reed, Dylan Goldberg and many other community leaders helped coordinate the forum.

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  At the #SpeakUpHoward event hearing from amazing students and adults of the community. pic.twitter.com/oaW9ljnyKn
  — Griffin Diven (@HoCoSMOB) December 21, 2016