Former President George W. Bush called upon Americans to remember their common values in brief remarks Monday during the first day of the Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Pittsburgh.
In a virtual, prerecorded statement, played before an audience of more than 100 people at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and over 1,000 more people watching online, the former president also said hatred, violence and bigotry must be rejected.
"Too often we judge other groups by their worst examples, while judging ourselves by our best intentions," Mr. Bush said. "This has strained our bonds of understanding and common purpose."
Mr. Bush was one of several keynote speakers at the summit, which has brought dozens of experts in hate-based violence to the city to seek solutions to global extremism.
Mr. Bush said part of the solution should be toning down the harsh political discourse that has become common. He said Americans need to remember what brings them together rather than what makes them different.
"These days, it can feel like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than those binding us together," Mr. Bush said. "Argument turns too easily into animosity. Disagreement escalates too quickly into dehumanization."
To renew the country, Mr. Bush said, Americans must embrace pluralism, compassion and respect for all human life.
"At our best, we practice empathy, imagining ourselves in the lives and circumstances of others," Mr. Bush said. "This is a bridge across our nation's deepest divisions, and I thank you for taking up this important cause."
By the end of the event, organizers said, the experts should come up with achievable goals that can be worked on in the coming months and reviewed at a summit around the same time next year.
Despite the goals of the summit, two local activist groups have criticized organizers for inviting speakers who they say have contributed to the extremism the conference is working to end.
Bend the Arc: Pittsburgh and Casa San Jose, both of which advocate for immigrants and refugees among other causes, expressed disappointment in the summit's inclusion of Mr. Bush, former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, and current DHS chief Alejandro Mayorkas.
The groups said the DHS — formed under Mr. Bush after the 9/11 terrorist attacks — "exploited anti-Islamic fervor to justify an aggressive expansion of domestic surveillance, harassment, and entrapment of Americans who practice Islam, have Arab or Middle Eastern heritage, or fit a stereotype of these cultures."
Summit organizers said they had no comment in response to the joint statement.
The summit opened in the morning with emotional reminders of the mass shooting at Tree of Life synagogue.
Before hearing from the experts, attendees heard from two people directly touched by hate — Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers and Michele Rosenthal, whose brothers David and Cecil were killed in the Oct. 27, 2018, shooting at the synagogue.
Ms. Rosenthal noted that she was not an expert on hate and did not have a background in education. But that made sense, she said, because she was speaking about something she didn't have anymore: her brothers.
She said she always tried to protect her kind, loving brothers, who were intellectually disabled, from the cruel, hurtful world. After they were killed, though, she said she came to a realization.
"It was this cruel world that needed them," she said.
Rabbi Myers spoke about the need to for more people to speak out against antisemitism.
Regardless, he said, his congregation would remain standing strong against such hate.
"We will reopen one day soon," he said. "For we will not let evil chase us out of our home."
