Bob Williams.
I understand the importance of taking a stand and proclaiming that black lives matter. The racial and ethnic divisions and hatred in our society are real and must be confronted and I would never respond flippantly that “all lives matter” – as if there’s no greater risk to blacks than anyone else. That said, I’m not a big fan of the slogan “Black Lives Matter” as a rallying point. Black lives are especially at risk but the issue runs much deeper. Not all racial/ethnic hatred is directed across black and white lines. For instance, antisemitic incidents are on the rise. A recent report documented more than 2,100 acts of antisemitic hatred in 2019 including a 56 percent increase in assaults over 2018 levels, and five fatalities. This means that antisemitic incidents are at their highest level since tracking began 40 years ago and 2020 seems on track to mirror that level.
This hits very close to home for me. I am not Jewish but my family and I attend a Synagogue. I’ve heard the slurs, sometimes directed at me. I’ve felt the shock of one report of antisemitism after another. In the fall of 2018, I was asked to come forward for an honor in our weekly service. It was the first time I had been asked to fill this particular role. I was enjoying the sense of inclusion and appreciation as I prepared myself to carry out the task when the Rabbi interrupted the service with an announcement that there was an active shooter situation in a synagogue in Pittsburgh. We all stopped and prayed. We later learned that eleven people had been killed and six wounded. It was the deadliest attack to date on the US Jewish community. A month later a man in a car shouted anti-semitic slurs as he tried to run down people leaving a synagogue in L.A. Six months after the shooting there was another fatal synagogue shooting in Poway CA where I have friends. Last December anti-semitic gunmen took three lives in a Jersey City kosher grocery store. This was closely followed by a home invasion machete attack at a Rabbi’s home in Monsey NY during a Hanukkah party. Five were injured, two critically. The man most seriously injured died of his injuries in March of this year. Now in 2020, “Black Lives Matter” protests have been a flashpoint for antisemitic hate as well. For instance, on June 9th, in Bala Cynwyd, PA, only about 10 miles or so from a Jewish organization my wife and I were working for when we met, Jewish teens participating in and supporting a “Black Lives Matter” protest of were harassed with anti-semitic slurs and shouts of “Heil Hitler.” I could list many more incidents.
In addition to antisemitism, I also see hatred directed toward others close to me of other races and ethnicities. My Hispanic godchildren have faced it in school regularly. Recently, I had a conversation with an Iranian student who was ready to leave her PhD program over discrimination. A Native American friend of mine has made me aware of the high rates of missing, murdered, or sexually assaulted Native American women on or near her reservation and many other reservations. I’m sure no one in the BLM movement would disagree that these things are unacceptable, and I don’t want to take anything away from the gravity of what’s happened to far too many African-Americans. I’d just like to say that the problem is much broader than any one color, culture, or creed. Many lives are threatened and they all matter.
