Community anti-Semitism program offers a start to ongoing conversation

PROVIDENCE – It was standing-room only at the program “Anti-Semitism: A Community Conversation,” held on May 30 at the Dwares Jewish Community Center. More than 120 people came to hear Robert Trestan, ADL New England regional director, speak on the “State of Hate in New England & the United States,” followed by a panel discussion on how to combat racism and hatred in the Rhode Island community.

The panel, moderated by journalist Phil Eil, shared an in-depth exchange on the causes of, and answers to, recent increases in hate incidents. Two answers in particular found strong consensus among the panelists: increased anti-bias education and solidarity among all organizations and communities that have been targeted by hate. Jim Vincent, panelist and president of the NAACP’s Providence branch, explained that what affects one community affects all others, and emphasized that “hatred will never defeat love and unity…it should be called out by everyone.”

That sentiment was echoed by panelist Mark Elber, rabbi of Fall River’s Temple Beth-El, who said, “When you get to know other people, they no longer are some abstraction. They become humanized to you; it can make a big difference.” Responding to a question about the politicization of racism, Trestan explained, “We need to make it a nonpartisan issue. I think it’s a community issue; it’s a human issue. It’s about treating people with dignity, with respect…I think government has a responsibility to provide for our safety, but we have to participate in that process, we must…. It’s not an option.”

Speaking to the need for solidarity, Victoria Strang, director of the Rhode Island Interfaith Coalition to Reduce Poverty, said, “I think it’s very important during this time that we find commonalities and make our voices heard as a collective group… to come together outside of incidents that are just responses to traumatic events. We need to build relationships so that the sense of community is fostered and is ongoing. If we don’t do that, we’re simply just responding to evil and hatred. We’re not actually working to make sure that we don’t have incidents like that continue in the future.”

Eil followed his prepared questions by asking several of the many dozen questions submitted by the audience. In the evening’s final remarks, Alliance President and CEO Adam Greenman said, “There are questions that went unanswered tonight and my commitment to all of you is that we will find ways to answer them.

This is the beginning of this conversation; this is not the end.” 

The program was sponsored by the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

MICHAEL SCHEMAILLE (mschemaille@jewishallianceri.org) writes for Jewish Rhode Island and the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.