Top 10 Heartbreaking Moments of Hate in 2021, and How ADL Responded
Report
The year 2021 was marked by a series of heart-wrenching setbacks in the fight against hate around the world. From the Capitol insurrection on January 6 to brazen attacks on Jews, Asian Americans, and other marginalized groups in the streets of New York and Los Angeles, these events drew back the curtain on the prevalence of antisemitism and racism, fueled hatred in our communities and fostered division across society.
Fortunately, they did not come without repercussions or a response…
As the year draws to a close, ADL looks back on the moments from 2021 that gave us hope and encouragement that our hundred-plus-year fight against antisemitism and hate is making progress.
And there were plenty of big, inspirational moments to choose from in 2021: A $26 million verdict against the white supremacists responsible for Charlottesville; the launch of a $1.1 billion foundation to help prevent Anti-Asian hate crimes; and meaningful legal victories against racially motivated…
Even in times of tragedy, there are glimmers of humanity. These moments of compassion, of kindness, give us hope for a better future for our children and our children’s children. Building a better world is what has motivated ADL’s work for more than 100 years, and what continues to impel us forward today. With that in mind, ADL’s professionals across the country have selected the decade’s Top 10 Moments of Hope in the United States. It’s hard to fathom how…
From the Boston Marathon Bombing in 2013 to the white supremacist shooting in El Paso earlier this year, from the detention and dehumanization of immigrant children at the border to the largest anti-Semitic attack in United States history last year, this decade was bookended and interspersed by a series of all-too-frequent tragedies, many perpetrated by extremists from across the ideological spectrum and others the result of wrongheaded government policy. Over the past decade, seven of the top…
Hate-fueled mass shootings horrifyingly make up half of our 2019 Top Ten Incidents of Hate List. Three of the shootings took place in houses of worship: two synagogues, and two mosques. One of those shootings was on the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur. Three perpetrators were white supremacists, two are believed to have ties to an anti-Semitic sect of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement. Two shootings were overseas, three of them spanned both coasts of the U.S. Hate spread across the…
December
Argentina
San Juan: Escuela Modelo de San Juan students reportedly made a Nazi-themed school project parodying Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” song. The school dismissed the teacher and had students study anti-Semitism in response
Canada
Montreal: A Jewish student at McGill University faced pressure to resign from her student government position for accepting Hillel Montreal’s invitation to travel to Israel and the West…
The total number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States increased by 21 percent in 2014 in a year marked by a violent anti-Semitic shooting attack targeting Jewish community buildings in Kansas and anti-Jewish expressions linked to the war in Gaza.
The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents counted a total of 912 anti-Semitic incidents across the U.S. during the 2014 calendar year. This represents a 21 percent increase from the 751 incidents…
ADL Commends Congress for Prioritizing Investigation into Antisemitism
Press Release
New York, NY, December 19, 2024 … ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today welcomed the House Republican leadership’s report concluding their investigation into the alarming surge of antisemitism since Hamas’s terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. The committee’s investigation found that several universities failed to stop antisemitism on their campuses, likely violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Additionally, the report found that several American…
ADL, OneTable, and Passages Israel to Launch 'A Light in the City'
Article
September 20, 2024 – As antisemitism reaches unprecedented levels in the United States, ADL (Anti-Defamation League), OneTable, and Passages Israel are working to build bridges between the Jewish and Christian communities through shared experiences and dialogue. Their joint initiative, “A Light in the City,” aims to foster friendship and understanding by hosting Shabbat dinners in four key cities. The pilot program, to take place in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, New York…
Empoderar a los niños y jóvenes tras un evento de odio
Tools and Strategies
What Educators and Family Members Can DoToday, local, national or international tragedies happen so frequently that they can feel almost commonplace. When a hate crime, mass shooting, act of terrorism or other terrible and hate-inspired event occurs, one of the first questions many people ask is, what should we tell the children? How can we explain to them what has happened? Despite our best efforts to protect youth from the details of hate-motivated events, we can never assume that they are…
Chelsey Nelson Photography, LLC v. Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government (U.S.C.A., 6th Circuit, 2023)
Amicus Brief
At issue in this case is a wedding photographer who seeks a religious exemption to Louisville's anti-discrimination ordinance for the purpose of denying wedding-related services to same-sex couples. ADL joined 14 other faith-based organizations in a brief led by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The brief argues that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment does not require granting the photographer a religious exemption to this neutral, generally…
This discussion guide about the musical Parade will help middle and high school students and adults reflect upon and discuss the themes and artistic elements of Parade.
ADL Urges Supreme Court to Revisit Flawed Ruling on Religious Accommodations in the Workplace
Press Release
New York, NY, February 28, 2023… ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today joined an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case Groff v. DeJoy, supporting people of faith seeking religious accommodations in the workplace under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Title VII requires employers to allow religious accommodations for employees unless doing so would constitute an “undue hardship” for the business. However, in Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison, the Supreme…
In Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison (1977), the Supreme Court held that an employer is required to allow a religious accommodation for an employee under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 unless doing so would constitute an “undue hardship” for the business. However, the Court defined an “undue hardship” as anything that imposes “more than a de minimis cost” for the employer — a very low standard that has made it difficult over the years…
ADL Calls for Comprehensive Hate Crime Reporting in Response to Alarming Gaps in Data Collection
Press Release
Lowest participation from cities and states in two decadesNew York, NY, December 12, 2022 … ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today expressed serious concern and called on law enforcement agencies to urgently commit to hate crime data collection and reporting in the wake of newly released FBI hate crime data for 2021, which did not include huge swaths of data from some of the largest jurisdictions in the country.
There was a 22 percent decrease in the number of reporting…