No time for silence in fight against bigotry

It’s hard to diminish just how ugly the recent uptick in hatred has become throughout American society.

They say love conquers all. It has its work cut out for it. Many are calling for love to stem the tide of rising anti-Semitic acts in the region and nation.

It’s hard to diminish just how ugly this recent uptick in pure hate has become, culminating in the senseless vandalism that saw more than 100 headstones in a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia toppled or damaged.

There was a time when this would have been explained away as most likely the work of teen knuckleheads with nothing better to do than wreak havoc in the local cemetery. Not anymore. Now it seems almost inevitable that this will be viewed as something deeper, uglier, a deep-rooted bigotry that has bubbled to the surface in the cauldron of our political fissures.

In short, we are a nation divided.

Left vs. Right. Democrats vs. Republicans. Trumpers vs. anti-Trumpers.

There is nothing new – or especially dangerous – in political differences. It’s part of the foundation of our democracy.

But only to a point. This is more than that. The extent to which our national political conversation has declined has emboldened those whose bigotry too often lies just under the surface.

The result? Bomb threats at Jewish centers across the country, including a sprinkling in this area. Cemeteries vandalized. Not just any cemeteries, but specifically Jewish cemeteries, including Mount Carmel in Philadelphia.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, 31 bomb threats were called into Jewish community centers and day schools on Feb. 27 alone. They also have identified no less than 900 hate groups operating in the country, including four neo-Nazi groups that have taken root here in Pennsylvania.

It’s no wonder that Jews across the region are wondering if this is something more than the normal cranks, that perhaps there is a real danger lurking in this blatant uptick in anti-Semitic sentiment.

Rabbi Peter Rigler of Temple Shalom in Broomall says he is hearing it from his congregants.

“Is this something we should be worried about?” he says he’s been asked. “That’s really new for me.”

It may be new, but it conjures up old, ugly scenarios.

That’s why it’s essential that leaders not be silent, that they speak up forcefully to condemn such blatant bigotry.

Silence only emboldens those tempted to engage in such heinous acts.

President Donald Trump in his speech to the Congress Tuesday night spoke out against such acts, branding them as “reprehensible.”

What he has yet to do is talk about is the role his strident, divisive campaign may have played in stoking such hatefilled actions. That includes some of the people he has surrounded himself with, including Steve Bannon, the controversial boss of the Breitbart website that many believe has offered a forum for just such dangerous speech.

Trump spent much of his campaign – and in truth the first month of his presidency – talking not about what unites us, but what divides us, the dangers that lurk in people who don’t necessarily look like us. His executive action to temporarily ban entry to the country for immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries only reinforced what seemed to be the underlying message of his campaign: Us vs. them.

Of course, it’s not just public officials. All of this starts in the home, and parents should be talking with their children about bigotry, and how it’s not acceptable.

In our region, voices are being raised against such hateful acts.

The Interfaith Council of Southern Delaware County and the Fellowship or Urban-Surburban Engagement issued a statement vowing to stand together against such hate as evidenced in Mount Carmel cemetery. They correctly noted that these actions have shaken many in the Jewish community, leaving them to wonder when – not if – such crimes will happen again.

The rest of us now must do likewise, be forceful and public in saying that such hatred and bigotry cannot be tolerated in our communities.

This is not who we are. This is not America. This is the result of our unchecked partisan divide.

We’re better than this. It’s time to act like it.