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Dear John,
Every day should be like this one.
That’s what I was thinking most of Saturday as hundreds of ADL volunteer leaders and staff members joined with thousands of other activists and organizations at the March on Washington. Sixty years ago, ADL leadership was there with Dr. King, demanding equal rights, justice and fair treatment for all. I was deeply honored and humbled to co-chair this year’s March with the King family and other leaders from the civil rights movement to continue the pursuit of equal rights, so we can once and for all achieve Dr. King’s dream.
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It was truly inspiring to see the number of people from the Jewish community who came together in solidarity with our Black community partners and other allies. As I said on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, “We stand together because we know that, in the same breath, those who spew ugly anti-Black racism on our airwaves, in our newsfeeds and within our communities, they also so often spew vicious, vile antisemitism. And vice versa.”
You see, the fates of the Black and Jewish peoples — and those who share both identities — are intertwined. While many of us have different histories, we all have shared experiences. For more than a century, ADL has fiercely believed you can’t fight antisemitism without countering racism and hate against other marginalized peoples. And the only way forward is together.
As Martin Luther King III encouraged us on Saturday, “It is we the people who can make changes... represent history in the right way... ensure hatred and hostility is not espoused all over our nation. But we need us all to be engaged.”
His wife, Arndrea Waters King, galvanized the crowd with the reminder that “Today, hate is being shaken to its core. Walls are crashing down. Walls of racism, bigotry, intolerance, antisemitism, xenophobia. That’s what happens when we stand together.”
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And then, just as we basked in the hope of fulfilling Dr. King’s dream and marched in solidarity, our hearts were broken by the news of the racist hate-fueled violence that claimed the lives of three Black people in Jacksonville, Florida. And just like that, we were reminded of why we were marching — because the work is far from over.
So, yes, Saturday we marched. And that was one step in the long arc of our work toward justice and equality. Today, John, we roll up our sleeves together, dig deep and recommit ourselves to the fight.
To that end, just yesterday, ADL Board Chair, Ben Sax, and I, together with my fellow March on Washington co-chairs met with President Biden and Vice President Harris at the White House
to urge the Administration to remain fully committed to building a comprehensive plan to fight hate, antisemitism and extremism, including the type of hate-fueled, racist violence we saw in Jacksonville and rallied against on Saturday. There in the White House on the exact 60th anniversary of the original March on Washington, we vowed to continue this work together.
As I’ve said before, none of our communities will be safe until we are all safe. You can make a difference right now by demanding that your U.S. Senators fund the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to protect our houses of worship, community centers, Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other nonprofits.
If you weren’t able to be at the March on Washington on Saturday, I encourage you to check our video playlist so you are as inspired as I was to continue fighting hate in all its forms.
| Thank you, |
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| Jonathan Greenblatt |
| CEO and National Director |
| ADL |
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