Anti-Semitism Affecting U.S. High Schools

Amity High School in Woodbridge, Connecticut (Google Maps).

The growing intensity of anti-Semitism in America is not only affecting college students but also high school students throughout the country. 50 students, most of them Jewish, from Amity High in Woodbridge, Connecticut attended a Board of Education meeting in mid-November to express their subjection to anti-Jewish rhetoric and harassment. After seeing swastikas carved across the campus and being told that “Jews deserve to die,” these students no longer feel safe at Amity High. These incidents occurred around the same time that the homes of Jewish families from the area had been vandalized. In response to the growing apprehension, interim superintendent James Connelly released a letter to the community denouncing the recent bouts of anti-Semitism and pledging that the district “will take disciplinary action against students who demonstrate unacceptable behavior.” The school has since cooperated with local police law enforcement as part of a larger investigation.

Connelly is not the only school administrator having to confront anti-Semitism. Lori Mueller, the head of the Baraboo School District in Wisconsin, issued a statement condemning a photograph that shows about 30 high school boys giving what looks like a Nazi salute before their May prom. One individual in the front appears to be flashing a three-fingered signal that is thought to be associated with white power movements. To be sure, not every student in the image made the salute. Although the image was taken last Spring, it has merited international criticism after recently going viral on social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook. Mueller described the image as “hateful, frightening and disappointing” and acknowledge the grievances of those with family members affected by the Holocaust.

Students from Baraboo High School brandish the Nazi salute before May prom (The Cut).

These incidents are reflective of recent data from the FBI Hate Crime Statistics, which show that anti-Semitic hate crimes increased by 37% in 2017, and from the ADL’s 2017 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents. The ADL report included a total of 1,985 reported anti-Semitic events between 2016 and 2017. This totals to a 57% annual increase over the previous year—the largest single-year increase and the second highest number of incidents reported since the League started tracking such data in 1979. The majority of these cases involved the promulgation of anti-Semitic tropes or symbols, such as what was shown in the disturbing image of the Baraboo students.

The aggregate effect of the intensifying anti-Semitism in America gives credence to the growing apprehension among the high school students at Amity High.