MAY 6 • 2021 | 25

T

he 2020 Audit of 
Antisemitic Incidents 
issued April 27 
by the Anti-Defamation 
League (ADL) shows cases 
of antisemitism in the state 
of Michigan rose by 21% 
in 2020, which continues a 
concerning trend of upward 
increases. Five years ago, 
ADL documented only 15 
incidents in its annual audit; 
this year’s spike represents an 
increase of 240% since 2016, 
with 51 incidents total. The 
51 incidents place Michigan 
at eighth-most in the country. 
Michigan Regional 
Director Carolyn Normandin 
said the rise in antisemitism 
in Michigan is discouraging.
“This is the second year in 
a row that antisemitism was 
the highest ever recorded,” 
Normandin said. “Any 
incident of antisemitism is 
not OK, but when you see 
year-over-year double-digit 
increases, it’s very worrisome. 
For the longest time I’ve 
been concerned about people 
being comfortable with 
antisemitism, and that’s what 
we see here.”
ADL’s Audit classifies 
all incidents into three 

categories: assault, 
harassment and vandalism. 
Of the total incidents 
reported in 2020, there were 
44 harassment incidents and 
seven vandalism incidents. 
There were no antisemitic 
assaults reported to the 
Michigan office in 2020, 
however.
Of the 51 incidents, 23 took 
place at Jewish institutions, 
11 in public areas, five at 
business establishments, two 
at homes/housing, two at 
college/university campuses, 
one at a K-12 non-Jewish 
school and seven in the 
“other” category.
Antisemitic incidents 
remained at historically high 
levels across the United States 
in 2020, with a total of 2,024 
national cases of assault, 
harassment or vandalism 
reported to ADL. National 
antisemitic incidents declined 
by 4% in 2020 (after hitting 
an all-time high in 2019), 
but it was the third-highest 
year for incidents against 
American Jews since ADL 
started tracking the data in 
1979.
Other incidents of hate are 
also on the rise in the state 

of Michigan, with the ADL 
receiving more than 170 
reports of hateful incidents 
during 2020, an increase of 
more than 40% from the 
previous year. 
Last year was dramatically 
impacted by the COVID-
19 pandemic, which led in 
some cases to Jews and other 
marginalized communities, 
especially Asian Americans, 
being blamed or scapegoated 
for spreading the virus. 
This led to an increase in 
incidents of antisemitic 
“Zoom-bombing” — the 
intentional disruption of 
live videoconferences. In 
2020, ADL recorded 12 
incidents of antisemitic 

videoconferencing attacks in 
Michigan.
Normandin says it’s 
important for people to 
report these incidents 
because the data helps them 
know what they’re dealing 
with. Normandin also says 
calling the hate out, holding 
online platforms accountable 
to police themselves and 
create guidelines, and for 
people to know who they’re 
voting for are all crucial steps 
to help curb the hate. 
“Use your voice in your 
community and make sure 
the ideologies of people 
in leadership roles in your 
community are not hateful,” 
Normandin said. 

OUR COMMUNITY

Antisemitic incidents have tripled in state since 2016.
ADL Tracks Rise in Hate

“WHEN YOU SEE YEAR-OVER-YEAR 
DOUBLE-DIGIT INCREASES, IT’S 

VERY WORRISOME.”

— CAROLYN NORMANDIN

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

