Anti-Bullying Guidelines Add Protection for Jewish Students
New federal anti-bullying guidelines for U.S. educators will increase the protection of Jewish students from anti-Semitism.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan issued a letter Tuesday that in effect applies Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the protection of Jewish students from anti-Semitism on campuses. Title VI prohibits discrimination based on ?race, color or national origin? but does not include religion.
Under the Department of Education guidelines, the Civil Rights Act can be invoked if anti-Jewish behavior is considered to be based on shared ethnic characteristics.
U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) and Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) introduced legislation last month that would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964, whose Title VI prohibits discrimination based on ?race, color, or national origin? to also include religion. The Zionist Organization of America also has led efforts to bring about legislative changes to Title VI, including lobbying members of Congress.
In a statement following the release of the guidelines, Sherman said that ?The policy is now clear: colleges and universities will no longer be permitted to turn a blind eye when Jewish students face severe and persistent anti-Semitic hostility on their campuses. The schools will now be compelled to respond.?
The Department of Education also announced that it would use Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender, to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act to protect students with disabilities from harassment on campus.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
