Talking about antisemitism in MPA classrooms and beyond

ABSTRACT

On October 27, 2018, a gunman killed eleven people attending Shabbat services in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA. For many – both Jews and non-Jews – this tragedy served as a wake-up call about the persistence of antisemitism in the United States today. MPA curricula and public affairs research have rarely addressed contemporary antisemitism, yet we argue for including conversations about antisemitism in MPA classrooms. This article serves as a resource for the public affairs teaching community so our colleagues can feel prepared and empowered to address antisemitism in their classrooms.

KEYWORDS:

• Antisemitism
• Jews
• cultural competency
• administrative evil
• trust

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Cali Curley, Adam Eckerd, Lisa Frazier, Chris Fyall, Kelly Husted, Emily Keller, Marieka Klawitter, Heng Qu, Akheil Singla, and Marlene Walk for their feedback and assistance during the development of this article. We also want to commend the care with which the editors and reviewers treated both our approach to this manuscript and the content itself.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Notes

1. Antisemitism or anti-Semitism? Most American English dictionaries and spell-checkers hyphenate the term. However, the word “antisemitism” was invented for the purpose of adding a more scientific or modern frame to “hatred of Jews” (Lebovic, 2018). In contrast, “Semitic” refers to a subgroup of northeast African and Middle Eastern languages that include, among others, Hebrew, Arabic, Amharic, and Tigrinya (Philogos, 2012). When hyphenated, anti-Semitism could be interpreted as referring to groups of people who speak these languages, rather than a specific hatred toward Jews. To preserve the original intent, “Antisemitism should be read as a unified term so that the meaning of the generic term for modern Jew-hatred is clear” (Lebovic, 2018). Therefore, we use the spelling antisemitism here unless directly quoting or citing a source that uses the hyphenated form.

2. We use the term public affairs as an inclusive reference that encompasses public administration, public management, and public policy.

3. We also searched for “anti-Semitism” and related words.

4. Given the inter-correlations between educational attainment, race, and religion, it is challenging to identify a unique relationship between religion and wealth. According to the Pew Research 2014 Religious Landscape Study, Jews, Hindus, and Episcopalians live in households with incomes of at least $100,000 at the greatest rates (44%, 36%, and 35%, respectively), and these groups also have high levels of educational attainment (Masci, 2016).

5. According to Bauer-Wolf (2017), the State Department’s definition includes “demonizing Israel as an example of antisemitism, and opponents felt this would suppress opposition to the actions of the Israeli state among both students and professors.” For more information and a take from The Alliance for Academic Freedom, see Nelson et al. (2018).

6. For example, “During our discussion, I ask that you please keep in mind the unique status of Israel as the only nation with a Jewish majority population. While specific criticisms of the Israeli government and its policies are appropriate and valid, broad generalizations about Israel and Israelis risk perpetuating antisemitism.”

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jamie Levine Daniel

Dr. Jamie Levine Daniel is an assistant professor at Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. Her research focuses on the relationship between nonprofit resource acquisition and program service delivery, with particular interest on the relationship between earned revenue and mission.

Rachel Fyall

Dr. Rachel Fyall is an assistant professor at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, University of Washington. Her research focuses on the intersection of the nonprofit and public sectors, with particular interest in the role of nonprofits in the policy process and the nonprofit delivery of public services.

Jodi Benenson

Dr. Jodi Benenson is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Administration at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Her primary research interests include civic engagement, inequality, social policy, and nonprofit organizations.