A Rise In Hate Gives Birth to Renewed Alliances

“Unsettling, frightening…sadness and outrage” were just some of the words that Synagogue members used when reacting to swastikas and hate speech spray-painted onto the walls of the Agudath Achim Synagogue in Taunton, Massachusetts last month . Next to the swastikas and antisemitic rants was racist graffiti with anti-LGBTQ and anti-Black slurs. It’s yet another sign of the alarming rise of antisemitism and hate in Massachusetts and across the country.?

Sadly Massachusetts is now second only to Texas in the amount of White Supremacists incidents occurring here, according to the ADL's Hate in the Baystate Report . This is part of a larger tapestry of growing hate that is dividing the fabric of America.

Our increasingly divided nation is at a crisis point. The disinformation touted by ultra-conservative outlets like Fox News combined with the anonymity that social media provides are fueling an unprecedented level of toxicity and lack of civility that is reaching a fever pitch in American culture. Like a virus, this toxicity is spreading through Congress and even into our judicial system. The flames were stoked in the oval office and boiled over into the capital uprising on January 6th - a dress rehearsal for civil war.

This rise in hate is pushing old friends to reacquaint. In cities across America, there is a growing effort to renew alliances between Blacks and Jews, including right here in Boston. We are healing old wounds, strengthening bonds, and embarking on a learning journey together.

The Black-Jewish alliance was once a formidable one. As the former Chair of the Education Committee for the Boston NAACP, I knew the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded in 1909 by prominent Black and Jewish leaders including W.E.B. Dubois and Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch forty-four years after slavery was abolished. As part of my own learning journey, I was surprised to learn that the first board members for the NAACP were all Jewish, and it was a Black/Jewish alliance that also led to the creation of the Urban League a year later in 1910. When the U.S. failed to resettle Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany in the 1930’s, historically black colleges and universities stepped up to hire 50 German Jewish scholars as professors at HBCU’s including Howard University in Washington DC.?

The alliance grew strongest during the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. Black and Jewish Freedom Riders risked their lives, shed blood, and died in the fight against Jim Crow segregation in the South. There were iconic moments like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma into Montgomery Alabama, and Rabbi Heschel giving his remarks at the March on Washington just before Dr. King delivered his I Have a Dream speech. Together, Blacks and Jews helped usher in a new era of freedom and civil liberties not just for Black people but ultimately for women, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ community.

The alliance between Blacks and Jews died with the assassinations of Dr. King, John F. Kennedy,? Robert Kennedy, and Malcom X. It silenced the dream and ushered in a Black Power Movement that rejected white involvement of any kind, which meant Jews were no longer welcome.?

Fast forward to 2020. At the height of the pandemic and our nation’s racial reckoning which was ushered in by the brutal murder of George Floyd, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin addressed Jewish community leaders questioning how to respond to the growing Black Lives Matter movement. “Antisemitism and racism are two sides of the same coin,” he said, “and we must fight them wherever they appear.”?

The Redstone Family Foundation is doing just that - investing in nonprofits that combat racism, antisemitism, and hate through cross-cultural experiences and civics education for children, youth and families, while engaging the broader community.?

One powerful example is the Boston YMCA's Building Togetherness Program, focused on children as young as 4 years old. Through books, field trips, and experiences, children are learning to embrace their own culture and identity while learning about Jewish culture and other cultures different from their own. We’re teaching children to love before they learn to hate, and educating their teachers and families along the way.

Another Redstone Family Foundation investment is the American Jewish Committee (AJC) Black-Jewish Teen Initiative in Atlanta. High school students will embark on an 8-week leadership development training that includes an overnight trip to Alabama to visit places like the Civil Rights Legacy Museum and Lynching Memorial in Montgomery and the Edmond Pettus Bridge in Selma. At the conclusion of their trip, they will develop Action Projects to work on together during the year.?

It was the late Congressman John Lewis, savagely beaten during the initial crossing of the Pettus Bridge, who in 2019 partnered with the AJC to launch the Congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations in Atlanta shortly before he died. The iconic figures of the Civil Rights movement and the last living Holocaust survivors are now in their 90’s or have already passed away. It’s now up to us to forge renewed alliances, to carry the torch, and see that our shared history of triumphantly overcoming slavery, persecution, and oppression - our shared legacy - is preserved and never forgotten.

It’s time for a new freedom ride - to finish the work we started together in the 60’s. I invite you to join us on this learning journey. Each month I will bring you new reflections on the growing alliance between Blacks and Jews in the fight to combat antisemitism and racism. I’ll share new learnings and insights, recommend books and films, and also share ways that you can become an informed citizen in the fight against hate.?

We are centering on the experiences and historical context of Black and Jews as a starting point. But we invite all to participate from all backgrounds as they develop a deeper understanding of the role each of us must play as good citizens - both individually and collectively. When we all get on board to mobilize love and not hate, we can forge ahead as one United States of America again.?