333 Results

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but Watch Out for the Stereotypes

Article

April 18, 2019 As Cinco de Mayo festivities commence, it is important to stop and consider whether classroom observances and celebrations in general are inclusive and respectful and whether they do or do not promote stereotypical portrayals of groups of people—in this case, people who are Mexican and Mexican-American. Cinco De Mayo is a fun and festive holiday in the U.S. that it is often wrought with problematic choices made by people wanting to have a good time and celebrate…

April 18, 2019

Women's Soccer Team Takes a Stand

Tools and Strategies

US Women's National Soccer team players postmatch with China

Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current Events Topic SummaryOn March 8, 2019 (International Women’s Day), the U.S. women’s soccer team filed a gender discrimination suit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, which governs soccer in the U.S. The soccer team’s complaint alleges pay inequities and inferior support and working conditions. In their statement released by the team, the twenty-eight players described “institutionalized gender discrimination” that…

March 18, 2019

When a School’s Policies are Biased, ADL Steps In

Article

February 25, 2019 Mya and Deanna Cook, 15, were both excellent students, but they had been kicked off school sports teams, banished from prom, and sentenced to hours of detention for refusing to change their hair. When these twin sisters were punished by their Boston-area high school for wearing braided hair extensions, ADL helped them change their school’s controversial hair and makeup policies, which unfairly targeted students of color. ADL’s New England office received a…

February 25, 2019

Why We Need Legislation to Ensure the Holocaust is Taught in Schools

Article

February 21, 2019 One would think that teaching the lessons of the Holocaust in schools would be a given in the United States. After all, it is an essential component in learning about world history, the rise of fascism, World War II, and genocide, all of which are already part of any respectable high school history curriculum. But recent incidents of students appropriating and abusing Holocaust imagery have served as a reminder and a wake-up call for the need to teach the universal…

February 21, 2019

The Historical Harm of Blackface: How to Talk with Young People

Article

Reproduction of a 1900 William H. West minstrel show poster showing white and black face

February 15, 2019 Blackface has taken center stage in our public discourse. Again. Virginia is embroiled in a controversy based on admissions by Governor Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring to wearing blackface in the past. The list of celebrities and other public figures who publicly condone blackface is growing and there are others entering the spotlight. Just a few months ago, NBC host Megyn Kelly set off her own controversy when she defended blackface as a Halloween costume…

February 15, 2019

Moving from Safe Classrooms to Brave Classrooms

Tools and Strategies

Multi-Ethnic Students Having a Discussion in a Classroom

For Educators In fostering inclusive, equitable and safe schools, we encourage educators to develop group guidelines for respect and safety in the classroom. These classroom guidelines can be created in a variety of ways and the list typically includes recommendations such as: share air time, actively listen, show empathy, respect confidentiality, participate fully, assume good will, be sensitive to feelings, and others. However, there is often a need to go further and frame guidelines around…

February 04, 2019

ADL to Supreme Court: WWI Veterans Memorial Dominated by 40-Foot Cross is Exclusionary and Unconstitutional

Press Release

New York, NY, January 31, 2019 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) joined a broad coalition of religious and civil rights organizations in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to find that a 40-foot memorial cross dominating a veterans’ memorial on Maryland government property violates constitutionally mandated separation of church and state. In an amicus brief co-filed with Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) in American Legion v. American Humanist…

January 31, 2019

ADL Says Federal Religious Exemption for Foster Care Program is Discriminatory, Shameful and Immoral

Press Release

New York, NY, January 23, 2019 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) blasted as “shameful, illegal and immoral” today’s decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services granting an exemption to a South Carolina faith-based foster child program allowing it to openly discriminate against Jews, gay couples and others who don’t follow their faith. “It is shocking that the federal government is openly sanctioning discrimination against Jews, LGBTQ…

January 23, 2019

Calendar of Observances

Tools and Strategies

Increase your awareness of religious obligations and ethnic and cultural festivities that may affect students, colleagues and neighbors in your community.

January 01, 2020

Fighting Hate Through Games

Article

December 21, 2018 64% of American households have a member that plays video games for three or more hours per week. And these gamers are not just kids. In 2017, the average age of a gamer was 31, and there were more gamers over 36 than between 18 – 35 or under 18. At ADL’s Center for Technology and Society (CTS) we know that video games can be a meaningful force for good in society. We think games can be incredible tools in helping to challenge bias and create respectful and…

December 21, 2018

The Week in Hate and Bias and How to Talk with Young People

Article

Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting Governor Wolf Gives Remarks

by: Jinnie Spiegler October 29, 2018 Last week, we saw several hate-inspired incidents that have shaken our nation. Many are worried about the toxic nature of our discourse, the direction our country is headed and how we explain all of this to young people. The week started with a string of thirteen separate pipe bombs sent to a group of mostly prominent Democrats: former Presidents Obama and Clinton, progressive philanthropist George Soros, several members of Congress, former…

October 29, 2018

Pyramid of Hate

Tools and Strategies

The Pyramid of Hate illustrates the prevalence of bias, hate and oppression in our society. It is organized in escalating levels of attitudes and behavior that grow in complexity from bottom to top. Like a pyramid, the upper levels are supported by the lower levels; unlike a pyramid, the levels are not built consecutively or to demonstrate a ranking of each level. Bias at each level reflects a system of oppression that negatively impacts individuals, institutions and society…

October 29, 2018

ADL Urges Dept. of Health and Human Services to Reject Waiver That Would Allow Foster Agencies to Openly Discriminate

Press Release

New York, NY, October 23, 2018 … ADL today urged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to reject a waiver requested by the State of South Carolina that would allow federally funded foster agencies to deny applications of Jewish and other foster parents on the basis of religion. The waiver request was based on a local faith-based foster care agency, Miracle Hill Ministries, prospectively losing its federal funding because of the agency’s religious…

October 23, 2018

Letter to the Office for Civil Rights at HHS Regarding South Carolina Adoption Issue

Letter

October 23, 2018 In a letter to Roger Severino, Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), ADL called for the rejection of South Carolina's request to allow federally funded, faith-based foster agencies within the State to deny applications of prospective Jewish and other foster parents on the basis of religion. October 23, 2018 Mr. Roger Severino Director of the Office for Civil Rights U.S. Department of Health and Human…

October 23, 2018

Native American Heritage Month

Tools and Strategies

November is Native American Heritage Month, which was first declared by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. The month provides an opportunity to commemorate the rich and diverse cultures, traditions and histories and acknowledge the important contributions of Native American/Indigenous people. It is also an important time to educate the general public, as well as young people in schools, about the bias, discrimination and unique challenges faced by Native American/Indigenous people…

October 12, 2018

Remarks by Robert Trestan to OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Paris

News

Ensuring Religious Freedom Remains Safe in France: Best Practices from America October 10, 2018 Introduction Anti-Semitism remains the world’s oldest forms of hatred. The targeting and scapegoating of Jews and Jewish communities dates back centuries. With the passing of each year, decade and century, the Anti-Semites have adapted, never giving up, always using the latest, most modern, most technologically advanced techniques to target, and intimidate us, and the one thing that has…

October 10, 2018

In Her Own Words: Confronting Charlottesville

Article

August 14, 2018 By Elissa Buxbaum, Director, Campus Affairs Sarah Kenny was Student Council president at the University of Virginia when the alt-right rallied at her school’s Charlottesville campus last year. She hadn’t yet returned to campus when a tiki-torch-wielding crowd of neo-Nazis and white supremacists marched through the white columns of the UVA Rotunda, spouting anti-Semitic and racist vitriol. “I had seen something on Twitter the night before, and…

August 14, 2018

This Passover, Think of the Modern Plagues

News

Next Year May We All Be Free April 10, 2019 As Jews celebrate freedom, let’s reflect on 10 modern plagues that still oppress so many—and identify actions we can take to help. Anti-Semitism For many in the American Jewish community, anti-Semitism feels closer, more pervasive and more threatening than ever. In October 2018, in the deadliest attack in history on the Jewish community in the U.S., a white supremacist gunman entered the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and…

April 10, 2019

Innovation Meets Creativity to Combat Hate

Article

June 14, 2018 It takes big ideas to combat a beast as big as hate. Tasked with the mission to implement a big idea that will confront and respond to the growing campus presence of hate groups and hate speech, students from across the country competed in ADL’s inaugural Innovate Against Hate Competition. Designed to empower young people affected most by hateful content on social media, Innovate Against Hate incubated a student-led wave of creative messaging and innovation in…

June 14, 2018

What is Everyday Bias? (In English and en español)

Tools and Strategies

Pleasant Muslim Woman Being Talked About

Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current Events For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Topic SummaryIt seems like we are seeing more and more news and social media stories about people experiencing bias as they go about their daily lives—riding the subway, shopping in a store, dining in a restaurant and hanging out with friends. Indeed, the surge of such stories makes it seem like racism, sexism, antisemitism and other forms of bias and discrimination are becoming more pervasive…

June 05, 2018