The San Diego Community College District’s investiture controversy has come to a close, but its conclusion offered a stark reminder about how too many of us continue to drop the ball in forcibly speaking out against hate.

On Monday, the district canceled its investiture ceremony for Chancellor Carlos Cortez amid significant criticism of the plan to feature a keynote speaker who has used antisemitic rhetoric and promoted the work of a virulently antisemitic author.

More specifically, Alice Walker — a civil rights activist and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “The Color Purple” — was announced as the event’s headliner on April 29, a choice that was controversial almost immediately, as Walker had just been dropped from participating in the Bay Area Book Festival, primarily because of her support for fellow author David Icke.

Icke, a writer whose work Walker has promoted for years, regularly incorporates a variety of antisemitic conspiracy theories into his work, suggesting — among other things — that Jewish people financed the Holocaust, were behind the slave trade, and are pulling the strings for racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

More recently, Icke has also pushed conspiracy theories around COVID-19, spreading misinformation about the virus and even suggesting a Jewish group had been involved with its spread, according to the BBC.

Still, SDCC and its chancellor initially were comfortable putting aside community concerns that had been expressed about Walker, telling the Union-Tribune’s Gary Robbins that though they don’t agree with everything she has said, the Pulitzer Prize winner is a source of inspiration for many in the community — including Cortez — and her participation is “consistent with the District’s support of the free exchange of ideas and opinions.”

Now, though, the district has apparently had a change of heart, opting to simply cancel the event with Cortez releasing the following statement:

“Over the past few weeks, concerns have been expressed about the political beliefs and writings of the investiture keynote speaker, Alice Walker. At the same time, others have expressed their support of Ms. Walker. As a district that celebrates inclusion, we believe the best way forward would be to cancel the event altogether. I apologize for the pain caused to any member of our community. The investiture scheduled for May 31 will not be held.”

That explanation, much like the statement SDCC released when it first responded to criticism about featuring Walker, leaves a lot to be desired.

In a column earlier this month, I outlined the reasons why I didn’t think it was a good idea to reward Walker with an unchallenged platform, as well as noted my hope that SDCC would re-evaluate the decision and provide a more thorough and thoughtful explanation for their ultimate choice.

The route they’ve gone accomplishes very little, though, and leaves me just as perplexed as I was at the beginning of this whole affair about what message Cortez and the district were aiming to send.

On the surface, some might view the act of canceling the event as akin to disinviting Walker and standing up against the antisemitic views she has promoted and espoused.

But I don’t think you can say that’s what happened here, since they didn’t say that’s what happened. In fact, they didn’t really take a stand at all. I’d go so far as to say it’s a statement more concerned about not upsetting anyone than it is about expressing actual principles. And no, throwing in the buzz phrase “celebrates inclusion” doesn’t cut it.

Cortez says there are people who are concerned about some of the views the speaker has shared but there are also people who support her, so we are just going to cancel the event. That doesn’t address the substance of what Walker has pushed, and, more importantly, it does not tell us what Cortez — who is supposed to be a leader in our community — actually thinks about the extremely valid community concerns that have been raised.

Additionally, the fact that Cortez has declined Robbins’ requests to discuss the matter further only makes the situation murkier and is unbecoming of a leader during a time when we need people to forcibly speak out and step up with hate on the rise.

Walker, credible civil rights activist though she is, has personally used antisemitic rhetoric, including publishing an antisemitic poem that claims an ancient Jewish text condones pedophilia and the enslavement of non-Jews.

The views Icke has expressed, and Walker has promoted, are unapologetically antisemitic bile.

It needs to be called out for what it is, and everyone — especially leaders — need to forcefully decry this nonsense and make it clear that there is no place for this garbage in our communities.

Stated simply: We cannot equivocate on the subject of hate, whether it’s based religion, race, gender, sexuality or anything else.

Hate is not a “both sides” issue and it’s not about “offending” someone’s personal sensibilities. One side represents cruelty, bigotry and animosity that directly leads to violence and the other is simply human decency.

We need to call it out as such when we see it, especially when it’s clear, as in this situation.

Now, some of you may feel I am being harsh and overreacting. Some of you may say, “Hey, it’s just statement and they canceled speaker, so what’s the big deal?”

That kind of thinking is part of why we are where we are today and why we continue to see hate fester and propagate throughout our community and our country.

Hate is not isolated; it only needs a snippet of daylight, societal acceptance or apathy to fester and spread. That’s why we’re seeing hate crimes hit highs for this century in many cities, and it’s part of why those who possess these despicable views feel emboldened to go out and publicly share them on whatever platform will let them.

There are a lot of reasons for this, but part of it is that we — collectively — have failed to forcibly stand up and make it abundantly clear that hateful ideologies will never be welcomed in our communities.

That means we shouldn’t only call it out when it’s easy — when the person who perpetuates it is on the other side politically or is transparent about their animus. It means we must call it out unequivocally when we see it coming from people whom we have respected, people who may have fought alongside us in other fights for justice, people who may have been sources of inspiration, just as Walker has been for Cortez and others.

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