Attacking hatred through education

Proposed bill would require learning about noose, swastika

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The late Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, is most commonly associated with the phrase “All politics is local.” For two local state legislators, the expression could be modified to “Some politics is personal.”

Democratic State Sen. Todd Kaminsky and Assemblyman Charles Lavine, who are both Jewish, have joined forces and proposed legislation in their respective houses that aims to fight hatred and, they hope, counteract the spate of anti-Semitic incidents in the New York metropolitan area since the beginning of December — 38 at last count, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The Hate Education bill seeks to make learning about the noose and swastika compulsory for state public school students in grades six through 12. The noose is a symbol of hate for African-Americans that is comparable to the swastika for Jewish people. The noose represents the threat of violence and lynchings, especially in the South after the Civil War. The swastika, once the national symbol of Germany, was appropriated by the National Socialist Party — the Nazis — who killed 13 million people, including 6 million Jews, in the Holocaust during World War II.

“One of the tools we need to use in the fight against hatred is young people knowing the history of the symbols of hate,” Kaminsky said. “I think it’s extremely disturbing. We have to stand up for diversity and as Jewish people — especially as zealots fighting for other minorities — and stand up and say that hate is not acceptable.”

The recent anti-Semitic incidents reminded Kaminsky of the stories recounted by his maternal grandmother, Ruth Kaleko, who told her grandson about family members being murdered in Lithuania during the Holocaust. Roughly 90 percent of Lithuania’s Jews were killed, one of the highest murder rates in Europe, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

“Very few of my large family came to the United States, as not one of the hundreds in the European branch survived the ritualized slaughter during World War II,” Lavine said. “I grew up in a place, where we were the only Jews in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I understand up close what prejudice can be.” Lavine’s European family members lived in Lithuania, Minsk (then part of the Soviet Union; now the capital and largest city in Belarus) and Ukraine (then also part of the Soviet Union; now a sovereign country).

Should the bill become law, Lawrence School District Superintendent Dr. Ann Pedersen said, the lessons would be merged into social studies classes as well as the district’s social emotion learning classes, which teach students respect, social awareness and empathy for people with diverse backgrounds and cultures,

“Isn’t the old expression, ‘Those who do not study history are destined to repeat it’?” Pedersen said, paraphrasing the 18th century philosopher George Santayana. “It is vital that the pain inflicted on groups is studied so as to allow future generations to be socially aware and empathetic. These symbols must be taught for an awareness to be learned.”

Dr. Mark Secaur, superintendent of the Hewlett-Woodmere School District, said that district officials agree on the importance of teaching the history and significance of the noose and swastika, and that if the bill were to pass, the district would adjust its curricula. “As stated in our HW 2025 Strategic Plan, the district believes that student learning occurs best in a safe, supportive and nurturing environment, where diversity and inclusion are valued,” Secaur said. “As such, expressions and symbols of hate have no place in our schools.”

He added that 10th-graders learn about the swastika in classes where they study the rise of fascism and World War II, while students in grades eight and 11 study the Reconstruction Era in the U.S. and the civil rights movement.

As the legislation was being developed, Kaminsky said, area social studies teachers he spoke with said they are teaching less World War II-era history.

Last year, he recalled, there was an incident at Roosevelt Middle School involving a collage showing a set of nooses. “Those who would display a noose are probably not generous [toward] flourishing Jewish communities,” Kaminsky said, adding that the bill is expected to be voted on in both the Senate and Assembly in the next few weeks.

Noting that New York City introduced a new program encouraging students to visit the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan for free, Lavine said that a substantial majority of people who hate Jews most likely hate African-Americans, immigrants, Hispanics and Muslims as well.

“I am in the unique position to be a public servant in the state of New York,” he said, “and I’m acutely aware how dangerous political leaders, with their base demagoguery, can be, and the native fringe elements who, again, can only exist if they are against the other.”

Have an opinion on the proposed legislation? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.