All hate matters: Anti-Semitism session wasn't inclusive, says principal

A presentation on anti-Semitism made some students feel uncomfortable and "unseen," said a Lexington, Massachusetts principal in an email apology to seventh-graders, reports Maggie Scales in the Lexington Observer. Some complainants "felt like your own history, your identity or your community was left out or erased."

Cole promised to create a curriculum about hate, prejudice and justice that would “include all of our communities and all of our histories.”

The apology by Diamond Middle School Principal Johnny Coles has "gone viral," and not in a good way.

Because Coles said the session connected the Holocaust "to the modern world," critics assumed families objected to their children learning about the Holocaust, writes Scales. Actually, the school had asked a nonprofit group to discuss anti-Semitism, after neo-Nazi and racist graffiti was found in a school bathroom.

A non-profit called Tribe Talk modified the presentation at teachers' requests, including explaining that the swastika signifies prosperity and joy in Hindu tradition.

In small group discussions, writes Scales, students discussed a real-life "scenario where a girl posted a picture of a challah (bread eaten by Jews on the sabbath) on Instagram and captioned the post saying she used her grandmother’s recipe. Another person commented on her post, 'Looks good I guess, but…#FreePalestine'.”

Coles heard students say: "By itself, free Palestine isn’t antisemitic but since she’s talking about being Jewish, she’s not talking about Israel, and that’s the response, that does seem kind of antisemitic."

In another real-life example, dating from 2021, students discuss what a football captain should do when the opposing team uses "Auschwitz," "rabbi" and other Jewish terms for football plays.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgOkCFGNeTE

Students were given Blue Square Alliance stickers, which symbolize a willingness to "stand up against hate." The group was founded by Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, who supports Israel, writes Scales.

“If there’s a conflation of these things, I’m worried it will make more people have resentment and associate Judaism with the actions of a military,” Andrew Harris, a district parent told the Observer.

The district told Tribe Talk the blue squares “can be challenging for some families,” Cole said. 

Swastikas have been found multiple times at the school over the past two years, writes Danit Levy Netzer in a response. They weren't Hindu symbols. Yet the principal seems unconcerned about the feelings of Jewish families.

The Blue Square campaign's mission has nothing to do with the Israeli military, she adds.

Lexington Public Schools wouldn't remove a Pride flag if some families found it "challenging," writes Dena Snyder. "Would administrators apologize if parents complained that a Black History Month presentation made them uncomfortable? Of course not."

"The feelings that should have been centered were those of the Jewish students who experienced antisemitism in their own school, not those who objected to learning about it," she argues. Focusing on all forms of hatred is the equivalent of "All Lives Matter."

The "loudest discomfort" should not set the terms of discussion, writes Samuel J. Abrams, a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College, in RealClearEducation. "When the adults flinch, children learn that truth is negotiable."