Anti-Defamation League Changes Its Definition of Racism After Backlash

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The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has once more modified its definition of racism amidst public backlash, after the group’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, criticized then accepted the apology of tv character Whoopi Goldberg for making racially insensitive and inaccurate remarks on “The View.”

On Feb. 2, the group Californians for Equal Rights Foundation (CFER) and 20 different civil rights teams despatched a letter to the ADL elevating alarm over its definition of racism.

In July 2020, the ADL redefined racism because the “marginalization and/or oppression of people of color based on a socially constructed racial hierarchy that privileges white people.”

In a press launch, CFER known as that definition of racism “absurd and narrow-minded” with roots in vital race concept.

“The far left is waging a culture war by redefining and engineering fundamental concepts that we use daily, including racism, along political and ideological lines,” mentioned Frank Xu, president of CFER. “As a society, we must be on high alert and push back.”

The ADL’s redefinition of racism got here into the media highlight when Goldberg mentioned on the tv present “The View” on Jan. 31 that the Holocaust was “not about race.” Greenblatt shortly condemned her remarks on Twitter and appeared in a section on the present the subsequent day.

ABC has suspended Goldberg from the present for 2 weeks.

In the Feb. 2 letter, CFER and the co-signing accomplice teams declare ADL’s try and redefine what constitutes racism is a “deeply offensive, illiberal, and un-American ploy to ascribe guilt and innocence to individuals on the basis of their race.”

The teams represented within the letter prompt ADL undertake a definition just like its former definition of racism: “the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another, that a person’s social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics.”

The identical day the letter was issued, ADL revised the definition of racism on its web site to a brand new “interim” definition.

“Racism (interim definition): Racism occurs when individuals or institutions show more favorable evaluation or treatment of an individual or group based on race or ethnicity. (Prof. Robert Livingston, The Conversation).”

ADL didn’t reply to particular inquiries in regards to the change, however as an alternative deferred to an article written by the group’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt: “Getting it Right in Defining Racism.”

The article cites the interim definition as what Professor Robert Livingston of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University calls his “simple definition.”

ADL, Greenblatt wrote, is making an attempt to adapt to the instances, “but we certainly don’t always get it right.”

“As a case study, take ADL’s definition of racism. A few years ago, ADL updated our definition to reflect that racism in the United States manifests in broader and systemic ways and to explicitly acknowledge the targeting of people of color—among many others—by the white supremacist extremism we have tracked for decades. While this is true, this new frame narrowed the meaning in other ways. And, by being so narrow, the resulting definition was incomplete, rendering it ineffective and therefore unacceptable. It’s true, it’s just not the whole truth.”

Greenblatt defined that the redefinition alienated many individuals, together with many within the Jewish group.

“In all honesty, as I re-read it this past week, it struck me that it didn’t even speak to my own family’s experience with the racism they experienced as Jews from the Middle East,” Greenblatt wrote.

Greenblatt claims within the article that ADL doesn’t become involved in partisanship or politics however stays centered on what is true and improper. The group plans to conduct a evaluate on the way it develops all its definitions and open the dialogue to the general public.

“This moment offers an opportunity to experiment and learn. And so, we are going to open ourselves to comments on our new definition of racism from the public,” he wrote. “We are going to invite feedback at adl.org/comments, a new page we have developed specifically to take ideas in a productive fashion and move beyond the mindless trolling on social media.”

Wenyuan Wu, CFER’s government director, informed The Epoch Times on Feb. 3, that ADL has veered to the “far left” in its political ideology because the summer season of 2020.

Redefining racism was a “political move,” that no person has challenged till not too long ago, she mentioned.

“It’s an encouraging development that the ADL, as a reputable and respected civil rights organization, has changed its course on redefining racism by seeking public input. We wholeheartedly welcome open-minded and sincere dialogues with its leadership on how we can collectively advance core civil rights issues such as equality,” she mentioned.

“At least they have not completely lost their mind on this,” Wu added.

The teams backing CFER embody: the Alliance to Protect Children, America Strong, A Time to Stand, California Policy Center, Center of the American Experiment, Chinese American Citizens Alliance Greater New York, Coalition for TJ, Fair Education Santa Barbara, Free Black Thought, For Kids & Country, I Choose Love Campaign, Moms for Liberty, National Association of Scholars, National Society for the Advancement of Black Americans, No Left Turn in Education, Protect Our Kids, San Diego Asian Americans for Equality, Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation, Stop Critical Race Theory, Parents Defending Education, and TOC Foundation.