More research action postings - The ADL

I also visited the Anti-Defamation League's website to see what their definition of racist acts are. www.adl.org My inclusion of their information is to commend their efforts to document and bring light to acts of racism against those of the Jewish faith and heritage. What is often missing from their work though is a truly critical analysis that show the connections between these acts of racism and the rising levels of racism against other groups in the United States and around the world. Their cautionings and championings are very exclusionary and can sometimes act to diminish the legacies of others in the world who struggle for justice. Some leaders consider their work to act as a sort of reactionary "divide and conquer" that dissipates the collective energy that can be harnessed when people work together instead of continually point fingers. It would be an outrageous act to pretend that the seeds of racism are not embedded into Jewish, Black, Asian or Latino sentiments towards one another. We all are "damaged goods". Once again, it goes back to the comment I made on our action team board in response to Sadie's post on modern racism:

"The part that is the most difficult to overcome in Overt or Covert racism is that the implicit stuff that we do can only be challenged if we are willing to admit that we have racist tendencies. Most people are afraid to admit that or deal with it. Acknowledging this is the first step, interrogating is the second, and responding is the third. But getting everyone to admit that they are racist or hold some racist beliefs is worse than pulling teeth. The defenses go up, and the cycle of silence continues. I don't think that there is anything wrong with admitting these truths. Indeed, it is the silence and shame that we carry about these feelings that is far more toxic. IMHO.

You have to be willing to get down and dirty. And that means working on a micro level, as I stated on my blog.

It's a complex problem. We can't even get people on this campus to wrap their heads around the abhorrent nature of the Chief. If a whole stadium of students can't understand that basic concept which in its display through shirts and merchandising is a blatantly EXPLICIT form of racism, then it should be of little surprise that it is hard to get folks to interrogate the smaller almost unconscious acts that we commit every single day."

I don't mean to get on a soapbox about this, but I have long-wrestled with my understandings of and responses to the ADL and what affect it has on race relations in the US.

Here is a segment of their 2005 report on anti-semetic activity in the US.

http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASUS_12/4671_12.htm

Anti-Semitic incidents included in the Audit comprise physical and verbal assaults, harassment, property defacement, vandalism or other expressions of anti-Jewish sentiment. The 2004 ADL Audit comprises data from 44 states and the District of Columbia, and is compiled using official crime statistics, as well as information provided to ADL's 30 regional offices by victims, law enforcement officers and community leaders. The Audit identifies both criminal and non-criminal acts of harassment and intimidation, including distribution of hate propaganda, threats and slurs.

Among the most serious incidents reported in 2004:

• Arsonists damaged the entrance to a local Jewish cemetery in West Roxbury, MA (February).
• Windows of a Jewish day school in North Miami were coated with feces (May).
• A rash of vandalism targeting a synagogue in Eureka, CA, including anti-Semitic graffiti, broken furniture and objects thrown against a door during religious services for young children (December).
• Swastikas, "Death to Jews" and other graffiti written on Houston synagogue (December).
• Members of a hate group harassed patrons at a Connecticut mall, raising Nazi salutes (July).
• An apartment complex in Ft. Lauderdale was targeted with anti-Semitic and racist leaflets "celebrating" Hitler's birthday (April).

"At a time when anti-Semitism is at a high in France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Canada and other countries, it is disturbing to see that it is increasing in America as well," said Mr. Foxman. "While most of the incidents in the U.S. are less violent than those experienced recently by the Jewish communities of Europe, it is troubling that so many people in this country feel a need to act out their anti-Jewish animus in ways large and small. Just one act of anti-Semitism can deeply affect an entire community. Sadly, in an America where Jews enjoy a level of safety and freedom unparalleled in history, we still experience anti-Semitism at an average rate of nearly five incidents per day."