Letters to the Editor
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
To the Editor:
Michelle Malkin’s hate-filled conspiracy theories about the Anti-Defamation League are so divorced from reality that it’s hard to fathom how her most recent column found its way into The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (“ADL, antifa and Koch equal a toxic anti-Trump league,” Oct. 3). In dismissing this storied, 106-year old civil rights organization — one with deep roots in Atlanta — as “a joke,” Malkin engages in a smear campaign that uses false and long-discredited claims about our organization that nonetheless require refutation.
No, ADL is not a partisan organization. We are not working in concert with leftist groups, nor are we perpetuating hate against political opponents (we are nonpartisan and do not have political opponents). No, we do not lie in bed with violent antifa extremists (in fact, we have issued background reports on Antifa).
And no, our CEO has not taken funds from George Soros (Malkin is toying with common anti-Semitic tropes here). And, no, the white supremacist march in Charlottesville was not used by ADL to fuel a “witch hunt against conservatives.” This claim, like so many others in her piece, is completely devoid of fact.
Anyone familiar with our work will tell you a much different, real story: How we exposed hate groups who marched in Charlottesville, how we have been on the front lines in finding and stopping hateful extremists from carrying out violent attacks against Jews and other minorities, how we have advocated for hate crime legislation, and how we have brought meaningful educational programs such as No Place for Hate and the A World of Difference Institute into schools across Atlanta and the region. This is the good work we will continue to do, no matter what the haters and bigots say.
Allison Padilla-Goodman
Anti-Defamation League
Southeast Region