Bookstore owner Rhoda Faust, a white woman, wrote: "Let's think of ways to let each other know that we love and respect one another as God's fellow creatures." Brenda Thompson, a black woman, responded, calling for "some sort of symbol, something to let the world know that all of us aren't infected with ... hate."

The two met for coffee, and the group "Erace" was born.

Their slogan, "Eracism — all colors with love and respect," is now carried on more than 30,000 bumper stickers, distributed by Erace. Said Faust: "Imagine a city where every car displays the sticker. Think of the message that would send. Think of how blacks and whites would feel in such a place."

The 200-member group also sponsors regular, candid discussions on race.

The efforts of Faust and Thompson were recognized by President Clinton, who included their group in a "Promising Practices" list as part of his Initiative on Race.

Project Lemonade
Bill and Lindy Seltzer, a Jewish couple in Springfield, Ill., were frustrated that the First Amendment gave neo-Nazis the right to march in public rallies. So they devised a way to turn hate's sourness into something sweet. Project Lemonade, now used in dozens of communities across the country, raises money for tolerance causes by collecting pledges for every minute of a hate-group event.

The Seltzers organized their first Project Lemonade during a 1994 Ku Klux Klan rally in Springfield. Using school equipment, they copied and mailed thousands of pledge fliers. Then they held a press conference to announce the unique event. They raised $10,000. When People magazine picked up the story, the idea spread nationwide.

The Seltzers created a kit for other communities that included practical advice: "Schedule an organizational meeting with community leaders, arrange for a local telephone number and answering machine, recruit volunteers, raise seed money, carry a supply of cover letters and pass them out. Involve the police. Invite the media. Schedule press conferences. Try to be interviewed for radio and TV talk shows. Keep Project Lemonade in the media as much as possible."

Lindy also warned would-be organizers to expect hate calls. "Ignore them. Stay positive and respectful. Encourage people to stay away from the Klan rally; they are looking for a fight. The Klan will leave, and the community will have the last say. It will be a positive one."

In Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, for example, the $28,000 raised during one white-supremacist rally supported human rights causes. In Boyertown, Pa., Project Lemonade so irritated the Klan that the hate group threatened to sue organizers for raising money "on our name." Money raised there went for library books on black history.

Every Second Counts
Keith Orr, an activist in Ann Arbor, Mich., used the Project Lemonade model to create an "Every Second Counts" campaign in response to a 2001 rally by the viciously anti-gay Fred Phelps.

Orr knew a direct confrontation would actually add fuel to Phelps fiery hate speech, so instead, he sought pledges to support a local gay-advocacy group. With pennies and dollars coming from as far away as California and New Hampshire, Orr raised nearly $7,500.

Orr then helped people in Madison, Wis., organize a similar response to Phelps, raising $6,000 more for the local Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

As Orr said later: "Fred Phelps himself may as well have written the check. It was his bigotry that pushed people to give."