'Hate Has No Home Here,' Princeton Leaders Remind Residents

PRINCETON, NJ — Princeton officials and religious leaders are speaking out against hate after offensive images and language appeared online as part of a school science document.

“We have once again been reminded in the town of Princeton that racism, Anti-Semitism, and hate speech can be closer to home than we wish,” Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert, Police Chief Nicholas Sutter, Rev. David Davis of Nassau Presbyterian Church, and Rabbi Adam Feldman, of The Jewish Center, said in a joint statement released Thursday afternoon.

A swastika and racist and sexist language recently appeared as part of an eighth grade science document available to John Witherspoon Middle School students online, Planet Princeton reports. All 261 eighth grade students had access to a Google spreadsheet that was being used as part of a class science experiment.

The lab was conducted on Oct. 30, but during the evening hours of Nov. 3, "racially and sexually charged language," a Swastika and references to an online sub-culture group were added to the document, according to the report. Principal Jason Burr then sent a letter to parents apologizing for the incident and asking them to monitor online activities on Monday.

“We see too many examples in other parts of our country and our world and we must not tolerate it here at home,” the statement read. “The commitment to resist hatred and shape future generations grounded in mutual respect and love of others requires a community-wide effort of leaders, institutions, and families. We are grateful for the strong partners and voices that have continued to work on the values of equality, fairness, and inclusion in our community.”

They went on to say that Princeton University’s recent release of the Princeton and Slavery research should serve as a reminder and a motivator to work toward the betterment of the common good.

“In support of all who work in our schools to educate our children and youth, we are issuing a joint call to all community leaders, institutions, and organizations to speak up and speak out against hatred, racism, Anti-Semitism, sexism and all acts of hate in our community,” the leaders said. “We all must be very clear that hate has no home here in Princeton – in our conversations, in our offices and schools and in our social media. Let us model for others what it means to be upstanders and not bystanders.

“Please join us as we recommit ourselves to speak out against acts of bigotry of any kind. As we move into the winter holiday season, let’s all strive to be that light in the midst of darkness that can provide hope and strength and comfort and light, to begin to remove hatred from our community.

“We call on everyone in our community to take the time to have the difficult conversations on this topic, to talk at home and in school, in the office, the church and the synagogue, with friends, family, teachers and clergy so that we can unite against hatred. There may be no more important conversations we can have.”

See related: Hate Language Appears On Online School Document: Report

Patch file photo