A Response to Lipstadt's Opinion Piece
Deborah Lipstadt wrote the above piece in August 2014, which urges members of society to realize the intensity of the rising anti-Semitic acts that are were being perpetrated against Jews across Europe. With The Holocaust in memory, Lipstadt urges Jews and non-Jews to stop complacency and take action against micro-aggressions. These aggressions are often passed off, she explains, as "just talk" or "just extremist", when it reality these violent acts and violent speech against Jews is creating a precedent for what is acceptable in our society.
Now more than ever, this piece is increasingly relevant, with the election of Donald Trump is 2016. He open-ness toward hate speech and fear mongering has only increased the central-ness of life-threatening violence and hateful language. It seems that the door has been opened to allow such attacks - in both language and actions - and people are holding onto this platform tightly.
As members of society, we need to be firm and serious when thinking about what we want to be acceptable in every day life, in both speech and actions. The current climate, specifically in the US but also across Europe, has the ability to become a slippery slope for all minority groups, not just Jews. Humanity needs to demand better for all of its citizens no matter race, creed, or culture and set an example of how all people should be treated with dignity and respect.
As Trump came into office in the United States, we saw an influx of desecrations at Jewish cemeteries across the US - representing one of the lowest and most gruesome forms of violence against a group or culture. However as the numbers piled up on the news screen in front of us, it was easy to try to pull ourselves away and become immuned to these terrible actions. Why would want to fill our heads and our hearts with thoughts of so much hate and violence? Even easier, to share the news on Facebook - commenting how terrible - and then moving on with our daily lives. Yet that can not be our action, we must remain emblazoned to make changes in our communities and spread inclusions for all groups - especially those under attack in the US today - Jews, immigrants, Muslims - and show that America is a place that values diversity and inclusion of all peoples. These actions can be small or large depending on what is in our scope - but we must not lose the raw emotions that we had the first time we read about this new violence.
There is some hope for our communities. Many people argue that the election of Trump has caused extreme action, organization, and change. In some ways, people do seem to be more involved with causes and more steadfastly dedicated to make a change. In March, Muslim activists began a campaign to raise money for a Jew cemetery in Philadelphia that had been vandalized. Similar to The Temple after the bombing, money poured in from around the country - giving us hope that maybe the good is outweighing the bad.
Now more than ever, this piece is increasingly relevant, with the election of Donald Trump is 2016. He open-ness toward hate speech and fear mongering has only increased the central-ness of life-threatening violence and hateful language. It seems that the door has been opened to allow such attacks - in both language and actions - and people are holding onto this platform tightly.
As members of society, we need to be firm and serious when thinking about what we want to be acceptable in every day life, in both speech and actions. The current climate, specifically in the US but also across Europe, has the ability to become a slippery slope for all minority groups, not just Jews. Humanity needs to demand better for all of its citizens no matter race, creed, or culture and set an example of how all people should be treated with dignity and respect.
As Trump came into office in the United States, we saw an influx of desecrations at Jewish cemeteries across the US - representing one of the lowest and most gruesome forms of violence against a group or culture. However as the numbers piled up on the news screen in front of us, it was easy to try to pull ourselves away and become immuned to these terrible actions. Why would want to fill our heads and our hearts with thoughts of so much hate and violence? Even easier, to share the news on Facebook - commenting how terrible - and then moving on with our daily lives. Yet that can not be our action, we must remain emblazoned to make changes in our communities and spread inclusions for all groups - especially those under attack in the US today - Jews, immigrants, Muslims - and show that America is a place that values diversity and inclusion of all peoples. These actions can be small or large depending on what is in our scope - but we must not lose the raw emotions that we had the first time we read about this new violence.
There is some hope for our communities. Many people argue that the election of Trump has caused extreme action, organization, and change. In some ways, people do seem to be more involved with causes and more steadfastly dedicated to make a change. In March, Muslim activists began a campaign to raise money for a Jew cemetery in Philadelphia that had been vandalized. Similar to The Temple after the bombing, money poured in from around the country - giving us hope that maybe the good is outweighing the bad.