RED BANK – Residents and stakeholders in Red Bank are advocating for “No Hate At Home” after a flier promoting the Ku Klux Klan was distributed throughout the municipality in August.
“We are here today in response to the KKK fliers that were dropped (around the borough). We are going to give a unique response to this (situation) that is positive and says what to do instead of being angry,” said David Pascale, chairman of the borough’s Human Relations Advisory Committee.
Pascale served as the host to a press conference outside Borough Hall on Aug. 30 to address what occurred last month.
Rabbi Marc Kline of the Monmouth Reform Temple, Tinton Falls, said the recent distribution of the KKK flier in Red Bank could be in response to the release of the movie “BlacKkKlansman.”
In his remarks, Kline said, “These fliers were anti-Jewish … We can’t blame the violence on one side or the other because everybody in this generation is suffering from some form of alienation. On the far right and on the far left, there is certainly ugliness and violence. And in the middle, we are taking on the habits around us. We have stopped talking with each other.
“…While the Klan’s activity spawned this gathering, it is not just the Klan. I’m tired of having to join and rally troops to defend our Jewish, Muslim, Black, Hispanic, gay and all other minority brothers and sisters against the hate groups that are so insecure in their own faith and identity that they believe the only way they can find authenticity is by destroying someone else’s.”
About 60 residents gathered to show their support for a community, which said they want nothing more than to promote peace and acceptance among the people who live there.