Hate is OK as Long as its Coming from BLM

Cherry Hill Schools

Hate Has No Home Here

According to the lawn signs from the Cherry Hill PTA, “Hate has No Home Here”, however the speakers at the Board of education meeting tell an entirely different story with parents and children speaking out on the recent high tensions in Cherry Hill schools regarding Islamophobia and antisemitism, emphasizing inability for the schools to control the “hate” that they hate so much. According to the children, they are stressed out and afraid to come to school.

It seems like schools with a heavy investment in the promotion of “anti-hate,” seem to have more of these issues in the school than those schools who tend to promote the idea of togetherness and pro-community. It makes sense, because when you are are focused on being against something, you join together to fight a monster, and if there isn’t a hate-monster to attack, you will create an imagined monster, in your own mind, turning on members of your community with accusations of hate. Sometimes, it isn’t about hate at all, it’s about conflict and resolving differences. When the goal is to attack the hate and drive it out of your community, you will never resolve the inherent conflict resulting in the issues we see today in New Jersey schools.

What about Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL)?

Children in Cherry Hill are choosing sides in the foreign Hamas-Israel conflict. There is no path in the DEI curriculum to resolve conflict because inherently, K-8 DEI is about diverse intersectionality (race, sexual/gender identity, mental/physical disabilities and religious beliefs), unconscious bias and “tolerance”; it is NOT about conflict resolution. SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) should be teaching conflict resolution, instead in NJ it strives to “develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.” All of this feelings-based curriculum in the schools and no instruction is included to learn how to resolve differences when conflict occurs.

In the Cherry Hill BOE meeting, one woman spoke out with a simple solution, to humanize the children and have them speak to each other to recognize that they are members of the same Cherry Hill community, but has the school gone too far taking sides, making it impossible for them to resolve the conflict in the classroom?

Black Lives Matter in School

Cherry Hill schools are the first in New Jersey to REQUIRE African American History in the classroom, where the self-professed Marxist group Black Lives Matter, is included in the curriculum.

The curriculum states:

Antiracism, Activism, and Black Lives Matter
(Week 10, 2 Weeks)

After students finish this unit, students will leave with a sense that they can make change through the power of their voice. Students will learn about a variety of historical and current movements of activism, in addition to notable activists both past and present. In addition, students will learn how activism can be enacted through art, music, cultural expression, protest, and policy.

·       How is the Black Lives Matter Movement a reaction to the history of incarceration and government sanctioned violence towards African Americans?

·       What is the impact of local activists and movements in New Jersey and Philadelphia?

In lessons where the school paints BLM in this positive light, will they also include the mob attack that occurred last week at the “Flood Philly” “Peaceful Protest” that was cross promoted by BLM Philly, the Philly Palestine Coalition and JVP Philly?

I’m sure the “flood” started with prayer, but it ended in a mob of people screaming at Goldies (a vegan Falafel shop) owned by Michael Solomonov, an Israeli-born chef, and Steve Cook, with insane accusations of committing genocide, that even the White House condemned. It is a historical trope that all Jews are responsible for the woes of the word, so all deserved to be attacked. We are headed down a dangerous path here with this type of behavior.

And this behavior is another example of when you are in the business of battling hate, but can’t find a monster, you seize the opportunity to create one. When activists can’t protest outside Israel, they can take the opportunity to target an Israeli businessman and descend upon his American business. BLM partnered with the Philly Palestine Coalition which has stated that these Philadelphia-area restaurants a legitimate target for boycotts and protests. Goldie was not the only property on the block impacted, as officials say ‘Free Palestine’ was also spray painted on a Jewish enrichment center for kids. 

There has been no statement from BLM Philly to condemn the actions of these protesters during a protest event that they promoted and encouraged.

See video Below.

BLM have tactics that are controversial; they are known for disruptive protests where sometimes violence may occur. The overall message is not the issue; it’s the delivery. While BLM certainly can call for a peace, and give a Pro-Palestine message, but when that is coupled with aggressive behavior and the spread of hatred, that’s where we are gonna have problems. With this recent incident in Philadelphia, it appears as BLM has partnered with Pro-Palestine groups, to intimidate Jewish business owners.

Down the road, 8.9 miles away from Philadelphia you will find Cherry Hill. Cherry Hill has a significant Jewish community, with several synagogues, Jewish community centers, kosher markets, and other institutions catering to the Jewish population in the area. In this Jewish community, the Cherry Hill high schools include the mandatory Black History class that highlights BLM as a positive movement, where the history of black anti-Semitism has been greatly ignored.  Recently, the ZOA (Zionist Organization of american has condemned BLM for numerous “hateful anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, pro-terror actions and statements” after Hamas and gazan civilians massacred over 1,400 innocent Jews this October.

The school is sending conflicting messages to the students by persistently promoting lessons that portray an organization, known for displaying anti-Semitic behaviors, in a favorable manner.

Meanwhile at the School Board Meeting…

You would think that this would be a relevant topic to discuss at the Cherry Hill School Board meeting. The local impact of BLM activism is included right in the curriculum, so wouldn’t the impact of the anti-Semitism behavior in Philadelphia by BLM and their partners be included in classroom discussions about BLM? Rick Short and Dr. Jeff Podowitz tried to bring this up only to be shut down by the Board because, in their eyes, it’s not relevant to the school.

The Board VOTED to teach about BLM in the school, but you can’t talk about the anti-Semitic behavior of BLM at the meeting because it has nothing to do with the school… even though BLM is part of the lesson plan for a required course at the school in order for a student to graduate. <insert eyeroll here>

The reality is, the School board doesn’t want to be chastised for making this poor decision. They are trying to avoid the blame for creating this controversy. It’s easier for them to prevent freedom of speech in an effort to avoid criticism for promoting this questionable anti-Semitic organization as required classroom content for graduation.

Since Rick Short can’t talk about BLM at the Cherry Hill School Board meeting maybe we can invite the BLM protesters from Philly to a local Cherry Hill Jewish Deli so that we can tell them how much their activism is “loved and appreciated”.

See Video Below.

I'm curious about the board's approach when a student raises the topic of the recent Goldie restaurant attack in the classroom during a BLM lesson and how they partnered with an organization that promotes attacking Jewish restaurants. Will these board members place themselves in the classroom to shout-down students and dismiss the relevance of the incident to BLM just like they do at the BOE meeting?

What is a Hate group?

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is viewed as significant by many for advocating for equality, justice, and the fair treatment of Black individuals in society. BLM movement itself does not have an official stance on issues related to anti-Semitism, but multiple instances throughout the years involving statements made by certain chapters or instances where the movement's solidarity with other causes has raised concerns for many in the Jewish community. It’s going to be difficult to get anyone already on the BLM bandwagon to see how they may appear to be a “Hate Group” with their rhetoric and behaviors. Dr. Morton, Cherry Hill superintendent, seemed to support BLM by praising a high school student for his public testimony that suggested that BLM is “not” a Hate group.

The ADL(Anti-Defamation League) defines a Hate group as:

An organization whose goals and activities are primarily or substantially based on a shared antipathy towards people of one or more other different races, religions, ethnicities/nationalities/national origins, genders, and/or sexual identities. The mere presence of bigoted members in a group or organization is typically not enough to qualify it as a hate group; the group itself must have some hate-based orientation/purpose.

There are surely some people who think BLM fits this description, others do not. How can this controversial topic be discussed in a classroom and NOT increase the tension that already exists in the school? Won’t bringing up current culturally sensitive topics in the classroom hurt kid’s feelings all around? You’ll never get this answer from the BOE when they shout over you before you even get these words out of your mouth.

Maybe the Cherry hill BOE won’t hear you at the meeting, but maybe you can write to them about their decision to include BLM as part of the mandatory curriculum.

kmorton@chclc.org fmahan@chclc.org lweathington@chclc.org bwilson@chclc.org lshugars@chclc.org miriamstern@chclc.org, joelmayer@chclc.org, corrienelmoestratton@chclc.org, jenniferfleisher@chclc.org, kimberlygallagher@chclc.org, adamgreenbaum@chclc.org, benjaminrood@cchclc.org, sallytong@chclc.org, ginawinters@chclc.org