Twin evils of anti-Semitism, racism

To the Times:

We are saddened by the tragedies of hate crimes in Pittsburgh, Pa., and in Jeffersontown, Ky. Our souls grieve for the families, the communities, and our country. In the United States, the most advanced democracy in the world, we have fallen off track. We are hurdling towards a path of escalating hate, led by the twin evils of antiSemitism and racism.

As we learn more about the perpetrator who entered the Tree of Life Synagogue yelling “All Jews Must Die,” we realize that his hate grew over time. He was making threats on social media over a month before the shooting. Along with virulent displays of anti-Semitism, other posts repeated standard white supremacist slogans. The main photo on his social media page was of the number 1488, a common white supremacist numerical symbol.

Likewise, in Kentucky, hatred apparently inspired a man to murder a black man and then a black woman at a Kroger grocery store. Reportedly, the shooter attempted an attack on an African-American church, and when that failed, he indiscriminately killed the first black people he could find.

We are in a cycle of hate that needs to be broken, because, if left unchecked, it invariably leads to deadly consequences. When one of us is threatened, all of us are threatened. Now is the time for all good people, including the silent majority, to stand together in solidarity against evil.