‘Lynching’ must be used only in its historical context, not to describe the impeachment of a cabinet official
US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas is facing impeachment by House Republicans
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas testifies during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on November 15, 2023 in Washington, DC. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Re “The impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas is a high-tech lynching of an American Jew” by Rob Eshman
To the editor:
I truly love the Forward, which I first learned about from my father Rabbi Benjamin M. Kahn z”l, who was in sequence Hillel director at Penn State University, national director of Hillel, international head of B’Nai B’rith, and director of Jewish studies at American University. The Forward is my idea of a family inheritance.
But as someone who worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Arkansas during the Civil Rights Movement, and whose uncle, Arnold Aronson, was a co-founder of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights together with A. Philip Randolph and Roy Wilkins (two storied civil rights activists), I respectfully request that you not use the word “lynching” except in its proper historical context.
To do otherwise diminishes the true historical meaning of the word, in the same way that using ‘holocaust” with a small “h” for any mass slaughter, no matter how horrific, undercuts the unspeakable nature of the Holocaust.
Thanks for understanding.
— Si Kahn
Charlotte, North Carolina
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Letters ADL is not exaggerating rate of antisemitic incidents
-
Letters Our event was a mourning procession for murdered Israeli and Palestinian children, not an ‘antisemitic incident’
-
Letters At Hunter’s ‘Israelism’ screening, the rabbi was rude, not the audience
-
Letters Anti-Zionist CUNY faculty groups target scholars like me
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Trump’s heedless approach to an Iran deal could be a big problem for Israel
-
Fast Forward In NYC, Itamar Ben-Gvir says he’s changed — and wants ‘the Trump plan’ in Gaza
-
Opinion Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to a Jewish society at Yale exposed deep rifts between US Jews
-
Fast Forward On his first trip to Auschwitz, New Jersey governor urges vigilance against rising antisemitism
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.