The Central Conference of American Rabbis condemns, in the strongest terms, President Trump’s repeated refusal, most recently during the first 2020 United States presidential debate, to condemn white supremacy and white supremacists, “the most ‘persistent and lethal threat in the United States through 2021,” according to [the Trump Administration’s] Department of Homeland Security. [i]
Whether uttered carelessly or with intent, the President’s words place the lives of people of color, LGBTQ Americans, immigrants and those perceived to be immigrants, Muslims, Jews, and others targeted by white supremacists at unacceptable risk. We are reminded of the President’s equivocation following the deadly racist riots in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017. [ii]
The Central Conference of American Rabbis urges President Trump to unite all Americans, regardless of political leanings, in combating white supremacy unequivocally, that together we might “sweep out evil from [our] midst” (Deuteronomy 13:6).
Rabbi Ronald Segal
President
Rabbi Hara E. Person
Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis
[i] Geneva Sands, “White supremacy is ‘most lethal threat’ to the US, DHS draft assessment says,” CNN, September 8, 2020.
[ii] Central Conference of American Rabbis Condemns President Trump’s Response to White Supremacist Domestic Terrorists, August 17, 2017.