SPOKANE, Wash. — Why did the Nazis hate the Jews? Why did the Tutsi hate the Hutu? Hate is everywhere, but the fundamental question of why one person can hate another has never been adequately studied, contends Jim Mohr of Gonzaga University, who is developing a new academic field of hate studies.
The goal is to explain a condition that has plagued humanity since it lived in caves.
“What makes hate tick?” Mohr, director of Gonzaga’s Institute for Action Against Hate, wondered. “How can we stop it?”
Gonzaga founded the institute a decade ago after some black law students received threatening letters. It has since started a Journal of Hate Studies, hosted a conference and offered its first class on hatred last spring.
With all the political conflict in the United States, it can seem that hate is on the rise. But Mohr said he wouldn’t pursue a field of hate studies if he didn’t think something positive could be achieved.
“We can change,” Mohr said. “There has to be hope.”
