ADL Stands in Solidarity with the Black Community

We mourn for George Floyd, who was horrifically murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis. There are many marching in the streets across the country and around the world chanting, “I can’t breathe” in tribute to his memory and to demand justice.

We mourn for Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and Rayshard Brooks among countless others whose lives were cut short as a result of systemic racism in policing.

As an organization committed to fighting all forms of hate, ADL knows that these brutal deaths follow an explosion of racist murders and hate crimes across the U.S. Systemic racism, injustice, and inequality call for systemic change.

It is more than just institutions that need to change.  During the Civil Rights era, Rabbi Abraham Heschel joined Martin Luther King, Jr. in his Alabama march from Selma to Montgomery. Rabbi Heschel said afterward, “I prayed with my feet.” We as individuals and communities continue their march today.

Join us in combatting the bigotry, racism and discrimination that targets marginalized communities today.

ADL Statements:
 

ADL Statement on Murder of George Floyd

ADL Statement on Arrest of Officers Involved in Murder of George Floyd

ADL and NAACP Call for Action After Another Police Shooting Takes Life of Black Man in Georgia

Resources:

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? | A Congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations Roundtable (June 30, 2020)

Fighting Hate From Home | Fighting Racism as a Multiracial Jewish Community  (June 26, 2020)

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ADL’s Center on Extremism is actively monitoring extremist groups’ commentary on — and occasional participation in — the nationwide protests, and has found an abundance of online conspiracy theories blaming George Soros for fomenting the chaos.

Valuing the power of partnerships, ADL joined the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and more than 400 organizations in a sign-on letter, urging Congress to pass meaningful police reform legislation. ADL also added its name to a sign-on letter from the Jewish Council of Public Affairs with a number of Jewish groups to express solidarity with the Black community, call for accountability and reform among law enforcement and commit to ending systemic racism.

ADL also launched #JusticeShabbat as a means of inviting people across faiths and cultures to spend Friday night, or any time over the weekend, as part of a virtual community, to to share awareness of, reflect on and grapple with the protests motivated by George Floyd’s murder, the systemic racism in America, and how to secure a more just and inclusive society.

Additional Resources:
 

For further discussion and continued learning, ADL has published a number of curricula, lesson plans and education resources on racism, violence, inequity and the criminal justice system.

Additional resources, to be continually updated:

Bryan Stevenson on the Frustration Behind the George Floyd Protests | Isaac Chotiner (The New Yorker) 

Congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations Calls for an End to Systemic Racism in America 

How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion | Peggy McIntosh (TED Talk) 

How to stop the pandemic of hatred | Van Jones and David Kamenetzky (CNN) 

In America, Black deaths are not a flaw in the system. They are the system. | Derrick Johnson (The Guardian) 

The Path to Ending Systemic Racism in the US  | Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff, Rashad Robinson, Dr. Bernice King, Anthony D. Romero (Ted Talk)

What we in the Black community need from Jews right now | Anthony Johnson (Forward) 

Why Racial Justice is a Jewish Issue | April Baskin (URJ)  

Resources for Families 

Books Matter | ADL 

Teaching about Racism, Violence, Inequity and the Criminal Justice System | ADL 

Talking About Race | Smithsonian / National Museum of African American History & Culture