David Banks, the chancellor of New York City Public Schools, urged Congress to take steps to “bring us together” to find solutions to fight hate beyond just holding hearings.
“This convening, for too many Americans in education, feels like the ultimate gotcha moment,” Banks said. “It doesn’t sound like people who are actually trying to solve for something that, I believe, we should be doing everything we can solve for.”
Banks said society must teach young people and expose them to Jewish communities so that they “understand our commonality.”
Although the hearing was focused on antisemitism, Banks stressed that hate exists in many forms, including against Blacks, Asian-Americans and LGBTQ communities.
“There is no end to this scourge of hate,” he said. “I stand up against Islamophobia and all other forms of hate. You can’t put them in silos…We have to deal with all forms of hate. The whole world lives in New York City.”
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, the ranking Democratic member of the subcommittee, noted that all the school officials called to testify at the hearing are from “blue states.” Bonamici said she would introduce into the record articles that discuss antisemitism elsewhere, including in Florida, Texas and Alabama.
