Addressing extremist abuses of medieval pasts: A connection-first approach to narratives of hate

Abstract

“Hello, brother” were the last words of Haji-Daoud Nabi and the first words to greet the shooter who killed 51 and injured dozens more at Masjid al-Noor and the Linwood Islamic Centre on 15 March 2019, in Christchurch, New Zealand. In the aftermath of this devastating attack, the shooter’s motives came to light in the form of a seventyfour- page manifesto and the writing scrawled across his weapons. His manifesto outlined an ideological motive steeped in racism, particularly against Muslims, centering on “The Great Replacement” theory that solidified in France after originating in Serbia. Considering the fact that a maliciously selective and misrepresented reading of history motivated the Christchurch shooter to engage in a horrific act of targeted violence (i.e., a form of violence targeted at a specific person or community because of their identity), this article will propose a pedagogic approach that seeks to build collective resilience to hate within classrooms, schools, and communities. Framed within the broader literature of violence prevention at the intersection of medieval history and education, this article will: a) introduce an illustrative case study that demonstrates the manipulation of history by extremists, with the Christchurch shooting as a culminating outcome intended by the very design of this weaponization and misrepresentation of history; b) offer a pedagogic approach that spotlights the role of connection alongside correction, which nurtures resilience to hate in classrooms and schools by bridging the power of social connectedness in parallel with epistemic concerns regarding the rectification of factual errors or misrepresentations; and c) closes with a call for this pedagogic approach to expand beyond the classroom in order to strengthen the democratic ethos within which members of the public are exposed to the manipulated and fabricated versions of history that exacerbate phenomena such as polarization, Othering, and risk of radicalization.