Maltz Museum Expands Anti-Bias Resources with Stop the Hate Learning Portal

 

The recent protests against racism and police violence across the country have been mostly peaceful. But there have been a number of high-profile cases of violence, occasionally with the “rioting and looting” some politicians are trumpeting, but more often by police over-response and the arrival of racist hate groups and self-styled “militias.” In fact, in the last few years, those hate groups and militias have been empowered by approval, both tacit and overt, coming from high places.

Never has the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage’s Stop the Hate program been more essential, and never has there been a more urgent time to launch its expansion of the program, with its Stop the Hate Learning Portal, an anti-bias education program which expands its resources and accessibility exponentially.

The Maltz Museum launched Stop the Hate more than a decade ago as the Youth Speak Out essay competition for area middle school and high school students. They were invited to submit short essays on instances of bias and bigotry they observed and how they reacted and opposed it. The goal was to promote awareness of injustice and taking action to combat it. It also added the Youth Sing Out group program for classes, based on Stop the Hate tours offered at the museum.

Each year, thousands of students compete for cash prizes for themselves and their schools — more than $1.2 million has been awarded since the program began. Submissions for this year’s contest, the 13th, open Wednesday September 9. The deadline for grades 6-10 is Friday March 19, 2021; for grades 11 and 12, Friday, March 26, 2021.

The new portal will give teachers and students expansive online resources to access anti-bias education content, including the ability to take the Stop the Hate tour virtually, free Stop the Hate classroom workshops, and information for both teachers and students about entering the Stop the Hate contest. These resources are all available for classes, teachers and students to use as they choose, on their own schedules, utilizing the museum’s copious resources without having to physically visit it. It’s also drawing on resources from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, and partnerships with Lake Erie Ink and Roots of American Music. Get more details here.

The Stop the Hate program emerges seamlessly from the Maltz Museum’s core mission of showcasing and promoting respect for all humanity. Its core, permanent exhibition An American Story tells the story of how Jewish immigrants to Cleveland arrived, survived and thrived, why they came and what they contributed — a story that implicitly relates to every group of immigrants to America. It’s also hosted special exhibits such as Operation Finale about the capture and trial of Nazi Adolph Eichmann, Violins of Hope featuring instruments that survived the Holocaust, and the photo exhibit This Light of Ours, featuring images from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s — exhibits which expose the outcomes of bigotry and hate and the courage of those who fought back.

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Beachwood, OH 44122

 

 

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