Bias battle

After Starbucks came under fire recently when one of its managers called the police on two black customers who refused to leave the store, the company said it would mandate its employees undergo “implicit bias” training. It chose the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a Jewish organization, to head the training.

Black Lives Matter activist Tamika Mallory and others, though, claim the organization isn’t qualified because it supports Israel, which some in the organization say is guilty of genocide in its relationship with Palestinians, and has a history of “attacking black people.”

The activist may not have done her homework. As a Jewish organization, the ADL does support the Jewish state of Israel. And rather than attacking black people, it has been supportive of the black organization’s platform on police shootings and education equality, and maintains a good relationship with the NAACP.

On the other hand, Mallory recently attended a speech by racist and anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan.

“[Martin Luther] King’s message was about building bridges, bringing people together, and joining forces to fight hate and oppression,” Kenneth Jacobson, deputy national director for the ADL, wrote recently. “Comparing American racism and Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, by contrast, seems driven by individuals more invested in undermining the Jewish state than in furthering race relations in America or working toward a solution to the conflict the Middle East.”