Extremism is here to stay. But there are weapons to fight it.
Hate speech, violent rhetoric and scapegoating threaten democracy — even in New Jersey — and are emboldening more dehumanizing behavior, experts said Tuesday during a panel on political extremism hosted by Princeton University The event, inspired by Project Extreme , NJ Advance Media’s examination of political radicalism in the state, was hosted by Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. The panel found extremism is only getting worse, even as another contentious Election Day fades. “I have definitely seen over the last decade-plus significant jumps in dehumanizing speech, in scapegoating, in fear-mongering and in conspiracy theory beliefs,” said panelist Cynthia Miller-Idriss, director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) at American University in Washington. Worse, many are trying to disguise political violence as heroic acts of patriotism, a dangerous shift in an ever-escalating battle for hearts and minds. For...