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Lives Who Inspired Us in 2020

Report
George Floyd Poster
They were ordinary people who lived extraordinary lives – or extraordinary people who put their lives on the line to protect the health and welfare of everyone. In what has become an annual tradition, as the year comes to a close ADL pauses each December to take stock of the moments and people who shaped the last 12 months – for better, or for worse – with a Top 10 list. For 2020, we compiled two Top 10 lists: One looking back on the moments of hurt and hate that…
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With Hate in their Hearts: The State of White Supremacy in the United States

Report
For Law Enforcement The recent tragic shooting spree in June 2015 that took nine lives at Emanuel AME Church, a predominantly African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, starkly revealed the pain and suffering that someone motivated by hate can cause. The suspect in the shootings, Dylann Storm Roof, is a suspected white supremacist. The horrific incident—following earlier deadly shooting sprees by white supremacists in Kansas, Wisconsin, and elsewhere—makes…
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Bloodlust: Viral News and Calls for the Death of the President

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For Law Enforcement Download the whole report: Bloodlust: Viral News and Calls for the Death of the President (PDF). Even in the final months of the Obama presidency, an ADL investigation has uncovered, calls on social media for the assassination or execution of President Barack Obama are commonplace.  On a regular basis, angry Americans post sentiments such as "If Obama is captured, I will gladly get the noose ready and pull the lever" to social media websites. These calls for…
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Tattered Robes: The State of the Ku Klux Klan in the United States

Report
Read the full report here: Tattered Robes: The State of the Ku Klux Klan in the United States (PDF). Despite a persistent ability to attract media attention, organized Ku Klux Klan groups are actually continuing a long-term trend of decline. They remain a collection of mostly small, disjointed groups that continually change in name and leadership. Down slightly from a year ago, there are currently just over thirty active Klan groups in the United States, most of them very small. However,…
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The Sounds of Hate

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The White Power Music Scene in the United States For Law Enforcement Read the full, comprehensive report, The Sounds of Hate: The White Power Music Scene in the United States in 2012 (PDF). The recent tragic shooting spree at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, in which Wade Michael Page killed six people before killing himself after a shootout with police, has drawn attention to the shadowy world of white power music.  Page, a committed white supremacist and member of the…
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What is the CROWN Act?

Tools and Strategies
African American mom helping son to study online
Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current EventsThe CROWN Act is a law that forbids discrimination based on hair texture and hair styles. CROWN stands for: “Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair.” Hair discrimination impacts Black people, especially Black women and girls in schools and workplaces who wear hair styles such as locs, braids, twists, Bantu knots, afros and natural hair. They are punished by discriminatory workplace and school dress codes and…
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13 Exceptional Kid Lit Books to Read for Black History Month

Tools and Strategies
A round up of books for Black History Month
January 27, 2022 Using children’s literature to teach about Black history and the Black experience is a great way to open the door to discussions about these experiences and milestones. These books include important insights into Black history, culture, accomplishments, notable people, historical and current day injustice and how that injustice was and continues to be confronted and overcome. Our recommended books include…
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Honoring Juneteenth

Tools and Strategies
Juneteenth Freedom Day June 19
Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current EventsJuneteenth, also known as “Juneteenth Independence Day,” “Emancipation Day,” "Jubilee Day," or “Freedom Day,” is an annual holiday that marks the end of slavery. The holiday’s name is a blending of the words “June” and "nineteenth." Juneteenth commemorates the day in history that Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas and informed the enslaved…
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The Verdict is In: How to Talk with Young People about the Derek Chauvin Murder Trial Verdict

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Amongst a crowd of people, a person holds a "Justice 4 Mr. Floyd" sign outside City Hall in downtown Minneapolis
April 21, 2021 The verdict has come down. The jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of second-degree and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd.  On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a forty-six-year-old Black man living in Minnesota, was killed while being arrested by the police. Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, pinned Floyd to the ground while he was…
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Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg; One officer indicted after investigation into shooting of Breonna Taylor; Zoom cancels Leila Khaled webinar

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ADL Headlines newsletter
September 26, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 The nation continues to mourn the loss of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first Jewish woman to serve on the Supreme Court and a pioneering advocate for women’s rights. The late Justice will be the first woman to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol on Friday. A grand jury in Jefferson County, Ky., has indicted a former Louisville police detective on three charges of wanton endangerment in the March shooting that resulted in the death of 26-year…
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Civil rights probe launched into shooting of Jacob Blake; Antisemitic sign hung on LA overpass; NAACP takes action after Philly president’s antisemitic Facebook post

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ADL Headlines newsletter
August 28, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 Federal investigators announced that they have launched a civil rights probe into the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. A sign with the phrase “The Jews Want A Race War” was hung from the heavily trafficked Los Angeles interstate 405 highway overpass on Saturday. The NAACP will replace all leadership of its Philadelphia chapter — including its president, Minister Rodney Muhammad —…
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ADL, Unidos US and National Urban League: Coronavirus highlights tragic longstanding racial inequity in the U.S (op-ed)

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Coronavirus Exposes Bigotry, Conspiracies
May 19, 2020 By: Janet Murguía of Unidos US; Marc Morial of the National Urban League; Jonathan Greenblatt of ADL. As leaders of organizations committed to securing civil and human rights, we have been in constant conversation about the impact of coronavirus on communities of color. The global pandemic has highlighted just how much work is left to be done to build a just and inclusive society and serves as a tragic reminder that we are far from reaching that ideal. With…
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Celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but Watch Out for the Stereotypes

Article
Cinco de mayo
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…
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When a School’s Policies are Biased, ADL Steps In

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

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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…
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Anxiety and Hate? MLK Would Have a Different Message

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mlk adl
by: Jonathan Greenblatt | January 18, 2019 Medium This weekend is the annual time of year when we reflect upon and remember Dr. Martin Luther King, and how his unflinching courage in the face of unrepentant racism proved that good is more powerful than evil. His moral leadership and political smarts ushered in a wave of legislation that enshrined the equality of all people under the law. His inner strength and outward calm created a high bar that activists still seek to meet. It’s…
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The Week in Hate and Bias and How to Talk with Young People

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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…
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Native American Heritage Month

Tools and Strategies
Native American Heritage Month Hero
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…
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Remarks by ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt to the 109th NAACP Annual Convention

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Remarks, as delivered, to the NAACP Annual Convention in San Antonio, Texas July 16, 2018 Remarks as delivered Thank you, Gary, and good morning, NAACP! It is so great for me to be here with you today.  You know, two months ago, my friend –  and your President and CEO –  Derrick Johnson, addressed the Anti-Defamation League at our National Leadership Summit in Washington D.C. in a room a lot like this. And in a speech no one on our side will soon forget,…
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Words Matter: Standing Up to Bigoted Language

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African American Male Teacher with Students in Class
January 17, 2018 Updated: July 16, 2019 It has become commonplace to witness a public display of bigoted and offensive language. In a tweet, President Trump remarked that four U.S. Congresswomen of color (Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pressley and Tlaib) should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” The language of "go back to where you came from" is widely recognized as a racist slur, and in particular this one is also…
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