Question 6: How should the council tackle issues of hate and intolerance in the community while at the same time taking into account the need for open discourse and free speech?
Linda Deos
Davis has a rich tradition of supporting open discourse and free speech. This environment led us to many innovative successes such as the first bike lanes in the US and communal developments like Village Homes. Unfortunately, we are also having to address how to handle hate and intolerance in our community.
First and foremost, the City must respect everyone’s right to free speech. The council must call out hate in the community, but cannot be responsible for regulating what people can or cannot say. We can be proactive in promoting inclusivity and positive dialogue while everyone still maintains their right to speech and expression.
There are many communities in Davis that are not feeling safe, and that needs to change. We must work to make sure, regardless of difference of opinions on any issues, that our residents feel like they are safe here and won’t be victims to any attacks.
The council can support community-wide educational initiatives that address the root causes of hate and intolerance, such as implicit bias training and workshops that promote cultural understanding. By partnering with schools, nonprofits, and local advocacy groups, we can offer programs that build empathy and foster dialogue between different communities. Public campaigns that highlight the importance of inclusion and respect can reinforce these efforts, making it clear that Davis stands against hate.
Holistically, I want the council to encourage discourse in ways that make our City better. I think the framing of discourse has been co-opted under the pretense of hate and diametrically opposed views. We need to engage our citizens and our partners, both the County and University, to encourage a positive discourse to find new innovative ways to make Davis safe for all of our residents. And that starts with addressing the proliferation of intolerance for many of our community members.
By promoting education, encouraging respectful dialogue, and maintaining strong protections against hate, we can create a community that values both free expression and the dignity of all residents.
Victor Lagunes
In my role as a teacher and President of Davis Teachers Association, I see first-hand how larger issues of hate and intolerance on the local and national level play out in our community, through our schools. In the past few years, our schools themselves have become the focus of hateful actions.
When any hate incident occurs, it is the responsibility of our elected leaders to speak out swiftly and unequivocally to condemn it, to create a climate where hate is unacceptable. Last year when our schools and educators received bomb threats, I spoke at the Yolo County Is For Everyone rally alongside school board trustees, councilmembers, supervisors, and others in a demonstration of unity against these hate-motivated attacks. In my regular address at the DJUSD Board of Education meetings, I consistently speak out against issues of bias and discrimination on our school campuses.
As my US History students learn, we have the right to free speech; the challenge is this can include hate speech as long as it does not cross into acts of harassment, intimidation, or threats. We can disagree on policies, methods, and philosophy, and these differences can result in better solutions. However, it is beyond question that all Davisites, of all identities, belong to our community and deserve equal rights.
A restorative focus teaches us that the strongest action against hate is to build community by first encouraging strong bonds between residents and providing extra support for groups that are systematically marginalized. Last night, our street hosted a Neighbors Night Out gathering. Events like these are fun, but also proactive: building personal connections, promoting dialogue, and growing understanding between people. They foster a community mindset, and encourage inclusivity and discourse. Council should actively conduct outreach and empower our Human Relations Commission to coordinate with local nonprofits and community groups to address hate, anticipate conflicts, and work to diffuse them; projects like ¿Un Cafecito?, that lift voices we rarely hear in Davis, can be a strong partnership. Lastly, the Hate Free Together initiative must continue to coordinate the city’s, university’s, and county’s resources to tackle this vital issue.
Dillan Horton
Davis is a community where everyone deserves to be safe & secure. That means that people need to be able exercise their 1st Amendment rights without intrusion from the government, but folks can’t have their safety compromised along the way. As Chair of the Davis Police Accountability Commission one of the things I’ve been most proud of is that in this time where hate groups are very active in Davis, our Police Chief has been unwavering in stating that there is no constitutionally protected right to harass here in Davis. I have also been clear that the Hate Free Together initiative that the city, the county, & UCD are working on together, needs to be more focused on protecting Davis residents from physical violence where I think it is now too focused on rhetorical hate.
Much of this conversation was sparked when a group of out-of-town Proud Boys members assaulted a number of community counter-protesters two years ago at UC Davis. Later the following year the local chapter of Moms for Liberty were responsible for repeated lockdowns at several schools, all due to a series of bomb threats their associates were involved in fomenting based on their transphobic viewpoints.
Of course, as an activist & an organizer for 13+ years, I support every resident’s right to peacefully petition their government for a redress of grievances. However, that can never compromise the security of the broader community.
I will always stand up for an inclusive discourse. Early in my tenure as a leader in the local Democratic Party I reached out to some of the moderate leaders in the local Republican Party to talk about how we could collaborate on water policy. We all drink water, right?
I was also there as a counter-protester when the Proud Boys showed up and lost my voice a little bit as a result of the pepper spray. I was among the counter-protesters when Moms for Liberty tried to throw a transphobic event at our public library. I’ll always promote civil discourse and have no problem calling out bad actors that try to shoehorn in exclusion in a community that prides itself on inclusion.
