In the aftermath of an incident involving two African-American men at a Starbucks coffee shop in Philadelphia, the Anti-Defamation League, along with our partners in the civil rights community, has been asked to help develop an anti-bias curriculum for a training program that will be rolled out to 175,000 employees in the company’s 8,000 stores nationwide.
ADL will be providing resources, knowledge and expertise to the effort, alongside our longtime partners in the civil rights community. This is a crucial next step in fighting implicit bias in the workplace, and we are honored to work closely on this with our friends at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Equal Justice Initiative and Demos.
Such anti-bias education is hardly new ground for ADL. In fact, ADL has been doing this work for many decades in schools and communities across the country. ADL has used education “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all” since its inception in 1913. ADL Education is inspiring a generation to challenge bias in themselves, others and society in order to create more inclusive communities.
ADL and Civil Rights
As a 100+ year old voice for vulnerable and targeted communities, we speak out against anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination through civil rights work and community partnerships. ADL is a staunch proponent of equal treatment before the law. We file amicus briefs to ensure fair treatment and religious freedom for all. We also use cutting-edge data science technology and techniques to analyze hate crime data and trends to educate law enforcement across the country.
Our civil rights focus areas include:
- Hate Crime Laws: Preventing and responding to bias-motivated crimes through community outreach, coalition building and advocacy
- Immigration and Refugees: ADL promotes fair and humane immigration policies such as protections for Dreamers and their families. We advocate for immigration reform in state legislatures and in Congress, pushing back against attempts to inject xenophobia and discrimination into immigration policy making. And we work to build trust between communities and law enforcement.
- Religious Freedom: We fight for the separation of church and state and safeguard religious freedom by rejecting attempts to use religion as a sword to discriminate against LGBTQ individuals and women; we protect religious accommodation in the workplace.
- Racial Justice: ADL works to end racial bias in the criminal justice system, fights to reform school discipline and to dismantle the “school to prison” pipeline.
ADL and Education
Today, ADL is one of the leading providers in the United States of anti-bias and anti-hate content and resources to schools and law enforcement. ADL education programs, including the award-winning No Place for Hate initiative and the A World of Difference Institute, reach more than 1.5 million school children every year in classrooms across the country.
Here’s a quick look at the various anti-bias and anti-bullying education programs we deliver on a daily basis in schools and communities across the country through our 26 regional offices:
The A World of Difference® Institute
Founded in 1992, the A World of Difference Institute provides interactive anti-bias education and bullying prevention training and curriculum to public and private pre-K-12 schools throughout the United States and abroad.
The Institute has several goals:
- Helping participants recognize bias and the harm it inflicts on individuals and society
- Building understanding of the value and benefits of diversity
- Improving intergroup relations
- Challenging racism, anti-Semitism and all other forms of bigotry
The program provides anti-bias training and curricula that promote respectful and inclusive schools and communities. The program also uses the Peer Training Program, which prepares select students to be peer trainers, using the positive power of peer influence to motivate others to reflect on their stereotypes and assumptions and to take action against prejudice, bigotry and harassment. This program has been reviewed by the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices. In 2016 alone, an estimated 41,000 students learned how to use the power of positive peer influence to challenge bias and bullying.
In peer training, students get three full days of training. It starts with the question of what is identity and moves into understanding the language of bias, understanding exactly what bias is, and challenging bias in one’s self and others. The kids then go into classrooms and become leaders to train other students.
No Place for Hate®
No Place for Hate provides K-12 schools with a framework for combating bias, bullying and hatred. Schools that use this framework are able to create long-term solutions for establishing and maintaining a positive school climate where all students feel they belong. More than 1,600 schools across the country have been designated as No Place for Hate.
No Place for Hate schools receive their designation by:
- Forming a coalition of students, educators and family members
- Signing the No Place for Hate Resolution of Respect
- Completing one A World of Difference Institute Training
- Implementing three school-wide activities that address issues of bias and bullyin