16 | JUNE 17 • 2021 

OUR COMMUNITY

W

hen Jewish children 
tell trusted caregiv-
ers they’ve been the 
targets of antisemitism, either 
in person or on social media, 
they should be taken seriously so 
hatred will not become a societal 
norm. 
That was the main message 
from a June 2 Zoom webinar 
“Talking to your Children about 
Antisemitism” offered by Temple 
Israel of West Bloomfield in 
coordination with the Michigan 
chapter of the Anti-Defamation 
League and Wayne State 
University psychologist Erika 
Bocknek. Around 25 households 
Zoomed into the seminar in 
response to the record-breaking 
rise in global antisemitism that 
reached a crescendo following 
Hamas’ latest war with Israel. 
“Social media 
has been exploding 
with hatred,
” said 
Michigan ADL 
Director Carolyn 
Normandin. “We 
have seen a tremen-
dous amount of 
anti-Jewish rhetoric 
targeting Jews, including ‘Hitler 
was right,
’ and ‘We should have 
burned all the Jews’ because of 
the violence in Israel.
”

‘PYRAMID OF HATE’
Michigan ADL Education 
Director Kristin Jager said it is 
important to educate youth about 
the “Pyramid of Hate” to under-
stand through the lens of history 
how attitudes of bias and micro-

aggressions toward Jews or any 
minority can escalate to violence 
and potentially, genocide. 
“The ADL is most effective 
when we can work in the two 
lowest tiers of this pyramid in 
countering bias attitudes and 
smaller acts of bias,
” Jager said. 
Jager explained four strategies 
to use to prevent the normaliza-
tion of hatred and bias. 
• Call out the person who 
has used an ethnic slur or said 
something hateful about another 
group by asking their intentions. 
• Remind that person that 
what they said was hurtful and 
dangerous to that ethnic or reli-
gious group. 
• Tell the offending person that 
every person is deserving respect.
• Put the hateful words and 
acts into a historical context. 
“What we are noticing is that 
when it comes to the myths and 

stereotypes about Jews, what was 
old is new again,
” Jager said. “Our 
young people are hearing the 
same antisemitic tropes that are 
connected to the past.
”

TAKE A STAND
Stressing the need to collect as 
much data on hate acts as possi-
ble, Jager said that people need 
not hesitate to report an inci-
dent to the ADL, including any 
screenshots of hate-filled mes-
sages or memes on social media, 
for evidence. Incidents can be 
reported anonymously. 
“We are encouraging people to 
take a stand, and we rely on the 
data we receive,
” Jager said. “We 
cannot let (hatred or bias toward 
any minority group) become 

normalized in our communities.
” 
The ADL with support from 
a grant from the Shulman 
Foundation will offer to teens a 
virtual, three-part Summer Anti-
Bias Institute in July. Applications 
for the program open in mid-
June. For more information, con-
tact Jager at kjager@adl.org. 
Erika Bocknek, 
associate professor 
of educational psy-
chology at Wayne 
State University and 
the principal inves-
tigator of the WSU 
Family Resilience 
Lab, said one thing 
that the Detroit Jewish com-
munity does well for its youth 
is to provide a strong sense of 
identity and community. These 
two things are crucial as youth 
mature into the world where 
they will experience implicit and 
explicit bias, she said. 
“We have found that cultural-
ization practices in other minori-
tized groups, such as community 
gatherings and rituals, provide a 
source of positive identity devel-
opment,
” Bocknek explained. 
“Developing a strong Jewish 
identity is a robust strategy for 
facing bias in the world. Not only 
is it good for our children, but it 
gives parents a sense of mastery 
to feel successful as they together 
face hatred alongside their chil-
dren.
” 

‘Take them seriously,’ according to
Temple Israel program.

Erika 
Bocknek

Carolyn 
Normandin

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ADL

Pyramid
of Hate

Incidents of antisemitism in Michigan in 2020

Helping Youth Face 
Antisemitism

