Why It’s Important for Everyone to Condemn Adidas and Kanye West

If you follow my work, you’ll notice my approach to fighting all forms of hatred is predominantly by building bridges, celebrating what makes all of us human, learning skills to make us all less judgmental, more empathetic, forgiving, and kind.?I don’t focus on spotlighting bad actors, partly because social media and mainstream media already give extremists too much space, but also because my philosophy is that doing good work, supporting those doing good work, and putting a spotlight on positive leaders is more effective and sorely needed.?

As a national Board member of ADL, I do support the important work to condemn all forms of hatred, including antisemitism, but I focus the vast majority of my efforts on?Starts With Us ,?Empatico , the PeaceWorks Foundation and the?OneVoice Movement ,?Frontline Impact Project , the?KIND Movement ,?KIND Community , and?much more .?

So why have I lost so much sleep over the last few days over the rants of an unstable music performer? If you’ve listened to Kanye West over the last several years, you’ll appreciate the man has a lot of confusing ideas in his head.??

But, beyond the very offensive and aggressive antisemitic words that he has lodged against Jews, the fact that Adidas has failed to dissociate themselves from him and disavow him completely is extremely alarming to me, especially as the son of a Holocaust survivor (you can learn more about what my Dad went through?here ?to understand the seriousness of the threat).?

I always talk with pride about how my father taught us from an early age to recognize that, even among the German soldiers that kept him in the Dachau concentration camp, there were?people who risked their wellbeing ?to help him survive.?Indeed, German youth are far more educated about what the Nazis did and the importance of preventing future tragedies like World War II and the Holocaust than most other young generations.?

Still, for, Adidas, a German company with a?troubling Nazi past ?to stand totally silent when Kanye West avers that he can actively attack Jews, and that Adidas will do nothing about it, is despicable.?

In 2013, Adidas committed to examine its?Fascist past . It was just words and spin. It has demonstrated that it is not worthy of any human being that stands against hatred and racism, including in the form of antisemitism.?

All of this is more alarming in the backdrop of the?rise in antisemitism ?– including violent attacks, mass shootings in Synagogues, and desecrations of schools and temples – that we have witnessed in the United States and across the world over the last several years.??

Just as I have always stood against any form of discrimination, I strongly encourage all of my friends to stand up against Adidas and Kanye West for their crude antisemitic behavior.?

Thank you.

#stophate ?#kanyewest ?#kanye ?#antisemitism ?#wordsmatter ?#neveragin ?#incusion ?#equity ?#RunAwayFromHate