Opinion

• Opinion

  How I Changed My Mind About Reparations

  Like David Brooks when he wrote this column, I have come to grapple with the issue of reparations for slavery slowly. Like Barack Obama when he ran for President, I have wondered whether focusing instead on fixing the legacy of slavery, by providing good schools and good jobs for African-Americans, would be more effective and…

  By Jane Eisner

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  How To Honor The Legacy Of The Jewish And Black Activists Murdered 55 Years Ago

  Fifty-five years ago, three young volunteers—one black Christian and two white Jews—working to register voters drove into a Mississippi town to investigate why a black church had just burned to the ground. They never made it home. On June 21, 1964, local police officers arrested James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner outside Philadelphia, Mississippi….

  By Ginna Green Jun 20, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Last Thing Netanyahu Wants Is A War With Iran

  The US-Iran confrontation in the Persian Gulf is escalating day by day. President Trump’s cautious reservations about the use of American military force in the Middle East—perhaps the only sound strategic pronouncement he has consistently made since before being elected in November 2016—are one factor militating against war. But there are other factors at work…

  By Yossi Alpher Jun 20, 2019 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

• Jay Michaelson What can really be done to prevent antisemitic attacks like Bondi Beach?

  

• Rob Eshman Australia shooting terrifies Jews worldwide — and strengthens the case for Israel

  

• Nora Berman Did crypto-Jews invent the modern tarot deck?

  

• Dan Perry The 3 responses to the Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack that could make Jews safer

  

• Emily Tamkin The fundamental miscalculation behind the GOP’s antisemitism crisis

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  I’m A Latina Jew. My People Are In Concentration Camps Today – Just Like They Were During The Holocaust

  My life is one of those classic American mixed kid stories. My mom is Latina and my dad is Jewish, so I grew up calling myself a “challah-peño.” Though I am Latina, I don’t speak Spanish natively. Many Latinx families from my mother’s generation coped with the pressures of xenophobia by assimilating linguistically. Because of…

  By Tae Phoenix Jun 20, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  How Long Will Black People Have To Wait To Be Truly Liberated?

  With fresh eyes, some might argue there is less Juneteenth to celebrate in 2019 than there was in 1865. Perhaps that is true. Perhaps not: there’s a bit of selfish audaciousness in that reflection, comparing the lives of 21st century African Americans who, at least, can exercise basic freedom of movement, to the lives of…

  By Charles D. Ellison Jun 19, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Take It From A Civil Liberties Professor – Trump And Hitler Have A Lot In Common

  I hate to put Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler in the same sentence. It trivializes Hitler’s obscene crimes to compare them with Trump’s often pathetic foibles. And it understates our nation’s historic commitment to constitutional democracy to suggest a serious parallel between the twenty first century United States and 1930’s Weimar Germany. But I can’t…

  By Burt Neuborne Jun 19, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Trump Administration’s Discriminatory Policies Are Harming The Most Vulnerable Children

  The nation’s 450,000 children in foster care all deserve loving families — but a slate of recent “religious freedom” policies threatens to make it even harder for our nation’s most vulnerable kids to find safe and loving homes. That’s why the bipartisan Every Child Deserves a Family Act — reintroduced by Reps. John Lewis and…

  By Ruth Messinger and Sandy Santana Jun 19, 2019 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  It’s Time For Jews To Say Dayenu And Speak Up For African Americans

  On June 19, 1865, the Union army arrived in Galveston, Texas with big news for the thousands of human beings who were enslaved there: They were free! It’s worth noting that these folks had actually been free ever since the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, a full two and a half…

  By Tamar Manasseh Jun 19, 2019 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  John Cusack Is What Happens When Anti-Semitism Becomes Convenient

  And this week’s anti-Semitism controversy comes to you courtesy of… John Cusack! Yes, here we go again: A public figure tweets something anti-Semitic, semi-apologizes, and then we move on to the next outrage. This is disgusting pic.twitter.com/4b2RlPrNfL — Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 17, 2019 My weary tone doesn’t mean I’m not upset by Cusack’s…

  By Keith Kahn-Harris Jun 18, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery, should be a Jewish holiday

  For American Jewry, celebrating civic holidays “has symbolized our commitment to the American project,” writes Tema Smith

  By Tema Smith Jun 18, 2019 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Racial Justice and LGBTQ Equality Are The Same Fight. It’s A Jewish Fight.

  As Jewish leaders working for LGBTQ equality and racial justice in Jewish life, our emotions run deep this month: June marks two historical moments of liberation. Fifty years ago, LGBTQ people resisted a violent police raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, sparking the start of the modern LGBT rights movement and signaling…

  By April N. Baskin and Idit Klein Jun 18, 2019 | 4 min read