Why did the Jewish Federation of Omaha prioritize its bizarre political agenda and botch Black History Month so badly?
Instead of celebrating the accomplishments of great African Americans in American history, during their Black History Month campaign, the JFO posts featured:
1) Asians
3) Tokenized Black or Jewish Celebrities (this one was by Temple Israel Omaha)
4) 0 posts honoring the most accomplished African Americans in American History
Black History Month is not about Jews and Asians. I did not even plan on writing on this topic, but the JFO’s Black History Month posts were so bizarre, especially when compared to the Jewish Federation of San Francisco. This happened at the JFO and Temple Israel Omaha, not the more “politically radical” place, San Francisco. So you can see the comparison for yourself, scroll down to the bottom to see four posts by the San Francisco Jewish Federation that, in contrast, are respectful posts from a Jewish organization celebrating Black History Month.
What do JFO’s political agendas have to do with Black History Month? Repurposing Black History Month for JFO’s political agendas is worrisome, to say the least. It appears that the JFO leaders are trying so hard to portray themselves as experts in interracial relations that they are making serious blunders in their endeavor.
It appears that Omaha Jewish leaders are trying so hard to portray themselves as experts in interracial relations that they are making serious blunders in their endeavor.
Was there any discussion about whether Jews should claim to be experts about African Americans, especially in the midst of JFO’s censoring alternative opinions? It’s concerning that JFO leaders are changing policy without discussion from the community and censoring questioning voices. Even more dangerous long-term, JFO leaders do not appear to be considering the potential damage they could be causing to the important Black/Jewish relationship.
I was shocked when I saw the Federation’s first Black History Month post at the beginning of February. Their first post said “February is Black History Month – celebrate with one of the best songs ever.” and shared “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone. Is that a good way to demonstrate that Black History Month is meaningful to Jews?
Keep in mind, this was just a couple weeks after the Federation called two African American celebrities, Dave Chappelle and Kyrie Irving, “bombastic antisemites” and tarred them by grouping them him with actual antisemite Kanye West (possibly just because all 3 happened to be black and have bad timing). Out of all people on Earth, JFO unnecessarily targeted two African Americans who could not respond in our community.
As always, I brought my concerns up in private before posting them, but I could not get anyone to respond to me on this topic. I emailed Bob Goldberg:
“Subject: Offensive Post Alert!
Bob, I about fell out of my chair when I saw this post that trivializes the black American experience. Do you have teenagers writing your social media? Thanks for your consideration! I am concerned about the treatment of African Americans by the Federation lately!”
Again, compare these to the San Francisco Federation’s posts, who appropriately honored Black History Month by featuring some of the most accomplished African Americans in American History. Here are those tasteful posts:
Why does Jewish Federation of Omaha appear to be risking Jews’ extremely important efforts at building Black/Jewish relationships for no reason or merely for their bizarre political agendas? I only raise the criticism here to encourage them to make the changes necessary to return to a more appropriate celebration of Black History Month like the San Francisco Federation managed to pull off this year.
Mark L. Javitch, Esq. is a former volunteer for the Jewish Federation of Omaha and is now a Class Action Attorney in San Mateo, California, where he litigates against illegal robocalling and HP’s updates that disable competing printer cartridges. He writes about freedom of speech in the Jewish Community and the fight against Antisemitism. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.
