Monica Bauer: Fighting Against Hate

Born in Mexico City, Monica Bauer, has always felt a call to fight for social justice. 
“I come from a family that came to Mexico seeking refuge,” says Bauer, who now serves as Associate Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) San Diego Office. “I have family members who came from Lithuania escaping the Nazi regime and others escaping the Nazis in Austria. I have also family that fled the civil war in Spain.” 
Throughout her life, Bauer has heard many stories of loved ones that have made an impact on her and reaffirmed her commitment to human causes. 
“I have an aunt who left her daughter with some nuns who christened her daughter with another name. I’ve heard so many stories about hiding, wars, poverty, and starting from nothing. 
Having grown up in a family environment with a painful history, Bauer always felt identified with doing good deeds. Despite this calling, Bauer did chose to pursue a bachelor’s in computer science, earning her degree at Mexico City’s Universidad Iberoamericana. 
After completing her degree with honors in 1989, Bauer worked in a computer lab, where she helped teach classes, train teachers, and was responsible for the installation of computer systems. Over time, Bauer realized that this field was not for her. 
After some more time, Bauer and her family arrived in San Diego in 1999 with the original idea of moving from Mexico City to Los Angeles. After getting off the plane and arriving in San Diego, Bauer fell in love with the bay and the family eventually decided stay in the region. Once she was settled in San Diego, Bauer operated a business importing Mexican crafts for sale in United States. 
Still managing a company, which required his full attention, Bauer began volunteering in the community. 
“I started doing volunteer work in various organizations, but the ADL caught my attention the most because I really liked what they were doing,” said Bauer. “Although the ADL was born out of an anti-Semitic event, the goal of this organization is to combat hatred and discrimination against all communities.” 
In 2008, Bauer was hired by the ADL as the Assistant Regional Director. Bauer’s new responsibilities included establishing links in the educational organizations such as universities and schools, creating relationships between ethnic and religious groups, create dialogues in public spaces about hate and their effects, and to establish and build relationships with the media in the region. 
“The first thing I did, being from Mexico, was connect to the organization with the Latino community,” Bauer said. “This involved strengthening the bonds of communication between the Latino and Jewish communities. I also worked with the African American community, gay community, Mormons, Muslims, and refugees.” 
Even with a new job that kept her extremely busy, Bauer’s drive to continue learning led her to enroll in a master’s program in history, again at the Universidad Iberoamericana. There she focused her dissertation on amplification of common places in hate speech against Hispanics in news cable programs in America. Bauer earned her master’s degree in 2010. 
In 2012, Bauer took over as Community Coordinator within the San Diego ADL. In this position, she became more involved with legal issues and lobbying for action for several communities. 
After two years in this position, Bauer stepped to her currently held position of Deputy Director of San Diego ADL Office. 
Bauer told La Prensa San Diego about the challenges the ADL faces today, especially in the advent of the current wave of anti-immigrant rhetoric. 
“What we have seen an increase in all hate actions,” Bauer told La Prensa San Diego. “A national director once said that Auschwitz was not built with bricks, but with words. To arrive to the point where you can hurt, catch, and exterminate others you have to start with words to show that a population is dangerous. So, we fight hate speech.” 
“We know that in San Diego half of the undocumented population is Mexican. These people are likely to be victims of hate speech and in California we have many hate groups,” said Bauer. “The more reason we want to educate the public. We work hard in schools with children currently affected by bullying stemming from topics such as the wall and deportations “. 
Despite having a busy schedule, Bauer continues to work to create bridges within communities that make up our city. 
“We believe this is a very diverse country that celebrates differences. Nobody wants to erase these differences but we seek to break stereotypes and believe that the best way to do it is to eradicate hatred through education,” says Bauer. “By educating people, we can combat ignorance. We all have biases and once you recognize you can break them.” 
“You cannot learn what people from different cultures are like until you have had contact with members of these communities,” Bauer closed.