Op-Ed: Anti­semit­ism, Racism are Linked. End­ing It Can Start in Akron

Written By: John Williams

President & CEO, Akron Urban League

This is the third story in a three-part series, “Shared Found­a­tions,” examin­ing the his­tory of Black-Jew­ish rela­tions with the hopes of encour­aging thought­ful reflec­tion and greater under­stand­ing to build a stronger Akron com­munity.

While Parts I and II of Shared Found­a­tions explored the shared roots of racism and anti­semit­ism and the strains they place on Black-Jew­ish rela­tions, the final ques­tion is prac­tical: What does renewal look like in a city like Akron?

Solid­ar­ity does not nat­ur­ally ree­m­erge; it depends on insti­tu­tions, lead­er­ship and habits strong enough to endure a crisis. It also requires clar­ity about what, exactly, is being pro­tec­ted: demo­cratic dig­nity.

At its core, com­bat­ing racism and anti­semit­ism is not simply about group iden­tity but about safe­guard­ing the demo­cratic prin­ciples that allow plur­al­ism to func­tion. New York Uni­versity School of Law pro­fessor and social justice act­iv­ist Bryan Steven­son reminds us: “The oppos­ite of poverty is not wealth; the oppos­ite of poverty is justice.”

The same applies here: The oppos­ite of racism or anti­semit­ism is not mere tol­er­ance but a just civic cul­ture that act­ively pro­tects dig­nity. Justice requires struc­tures, not slo­gans. Renewal demands more than good­will; it requires delib­er­ate design.

The first pil­lar of dur­able solid­ar­ity is civic edu­ca­tion, because hatred thrives in his­tor­ical ignor­ance. When stu­dents learn about slavery but not the Holo­caust — or about the Holo­caust but not red­lining and segreg­a­tion — they receive frag­men­ted moral instruc­tion.

Edu­ca­tional spaces in Akron, from schools to uni­versit­ies and faith-based pro­grams, should model a com­pre­hens­ive his­tory that explains how dif­fer­ent forms of pre­ju­dice oper­ate and inter­sect.

As Yale his­tor­ian Timothy Snyder warns, demo­cracy depends on cit­izens who res­ist easy myths. When pub­lic under­stand­ing col­lapses into con­spir­acy think­ing, minor­ity com­munit­ies become tar­gets. Teach­ing his­tor­ical com­plex­ity is not indoc­trin­a­tion; it is demo­cratic main­ten­ance, and Akron’s classrooms and com­munity for­ums can serve as pre­vent­at­ive infra­struc­ture.

The second pil­lar is inter­faith and inter­cul­tural lead­er­ship. Rabbi Irving “Yitz” Green­berg writes that in a plur­al­istic soci­ety, “No group’s dig­nity is secure unless every group’s dig­nity is secure.” That prin­ciple calls for vis­ible cooper­a­tion among clergy, non­profit lead­ers and civic offi­cials. Joint state­ments mat­ter, but sus­tained rela­tion­ships mat­ter more.

Akron’s reli­gious and civic land­scape makes this work pos­sible. Churches, syn­agogues and other faith cen­ters already anchor neigh­bor­hoods across the city, and pur­pose­ful col­lab­or­a­tions — pul­pit exchanges, joint ser­vice ini­ti­at­ives, youth pro­grams — build rela­tional trust before crisis strikes. Trust built gradu­ally is more dur­able than unity declared quickly.

Bey­ond faith insti­tu­tions, organ­iz­a­tions such as the Akron Urban League and the Jew­ish Com­munity Cen­ter oper­ate in the same pub­lic square and often serve over­lap­ping com­munit­ies. Coordin­ated efforts in hous­ing equity, youth ment­or­ship or coun­ter­ing hate speech can trans­late shared con­cern into col­lect­ive action. Renewal becomes real when insti­tu­tions that long worked in par­al­lel begin col­lab­or­at­ing inten­tion­ally.

The third pil­lar is moral clar­ity in pub­lic dis­course. His­tor­ian Deborah Lip­stadt has argued that anti­semit­ism often mutates in lan­guage before it erupts in viol­ence, and the same is true of racism. Lead­ers must identify harm­ful rhet­oric early, even when doing so feels uncom­fort­able.

That clar­ity must remain bal­anced: Con­demning anti­semit­ism does not weaken the fight against anti­Black racism, and con­front­ing anti-Black racism does not dimin­ish the ser­i­ous­ness of anti­semit­ism. As Har­vard pro­fessor Dani­elle Allen writes, demo­cracy depends on “mutual recog­ni­tion among strangers.” When recog­ni­tion fal­ters, demo­cracy frays.

The fourth pil­lar is eco­nomic inclu­sion. Ten­sions between Black and Jew­ish com­munit­ies have often sur­faced around hous­ing and urban policy. Pre­vent­ing future strain requires address­ing the struc­tural inequal­it­ies that fuel resent­ment. Fair access to hous­ing, small busi­ness devel­op­ment and equit­able pub­lic invest­ment sta­bil­ize com­munit­ies.

Akron’s redevel­op­ment efforts offer a mean­ing­ful oppor­tun­ity. Involving diverse voices in revital­iz­a­tion fosters trust, while exclu­sion breeds sus­pi­cion. Eco­nomic policy can­not erad­ic­ate pre­ju­dice, but it can reduce the con­di­tions that fuel scape­goat­ing.

The fifth pil­lar is digital lit­er­acy and resi­li­ence against mis­in­form­a­tion. Social media accel­er­ates con­spir­acy the­or­ies that cast Jews as hid­den manip­u­lat­ors or Black Amer­ic­ans as inher­ent threats — nar­rat­ives no longer con­fined to the fringe. Civic insti­tu­tions such as lib­rar­ies, schools, and faith com­munit­ies can equip res­id­ents to ques­tion sources and verify claims before shar­ing them.

Soci­olo­gist Robert Put­nam warned of declin­ing “social cap­ital” in Amer­ican life, and rebuild­ing it requires inten­tional spaces for cross-com­munity engage­ment. Akron’s size is an advant­age: rela­tion­ships are more access­ible in mid­sized cit­ies than in sprawl­ing met­ro­pol­itan areas.

Ulti­mately, solid­ar­ity depends on humil­ity. Civil rights act­iv­ist James Bald­win wrote, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but noth­ing can be changed until it is faced.” Con­front­ing his­tory hon­estly strengthens a com­munity. Facing com­plex­ity makes renewal cred­ible.

To read the full Op-Ed, click here.