Reducing hate by getting to know each other better.
This month, I begin my 21st year working at our Jewish Federation. Over the past 20 years, the scope of our work, while always driven by our mission, has evolved and expanded in ways I don’t think any of us could’ve imagined. From the addition of new programs like our Cultural Arts Program, PJ Library, Every Person Has A Name, and last year’s Ladies of Laughter Comedy Festival, to name just a few, our effort to enhance Jewish life here in the greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys has been incredible.
During this time, we have also seen our Jewish Federation undertake a robust and concerted effort to increase Jewish advocacy and outreach across the community when issues have risen. Examples include our ongoing effort to stand up to the rise of antisemitism and anti-Jewish hate and sentiment that seems to have permeated our society over the last 10 to 15 years to working closely with supermarkets to ensure a larger and centralized supply of Passover-related food is available locally.
Oftentimes, as the Executive Director of our Jewish Federation, it is my job to respond to and look at various ways we can combat hate. When antisemitic incidents have occurred at local schools, I typically meet with school principals and superintendents. And rather than wag a finger at them and say, “How dare you let this happen,” I always go in with the mentality of how we can work together to begin to change the culture at the school where this hate took place. In fact, last year, I was asked to conduct an anti-hate workshop, essentially “wearing my hat,” as a commissioner of the LA County Commission on Human Relations at a local high school. And while these efforts have been appreciated, it has often felt like a whack-a-mole approach.
This is why I am such a strong proponent of a strong ethnic studies curriculum for our community schools, as it becomes another way to combat hate.
Last month JPAC, a Jewish advocacy consortium of Jewish organizations (including our Jewish Federation) all across the state, sponsored AB 1468, a bill aimed at preventing factually inaccurate and antisemitic content from entering ethnic studies classrooms. In other words, this bill would standardize how ethnic studies is taught in public high schools, establishing state-approved content standards, curriculum frameworks, and instructional materials to guide its teaching with clarity and integrity.
Without proper guardrails, we have already seen far too many instances of antisemitic and anti-Israel content infiltrating classrooms, causing deep concern and fear within the Jewish community.
AB 1468 isn’t just about protecting Jewish students – it’s about safeguarding all communities. Without clear content standards, any group risks being misrepresented, allowing misinformation to spread and creating an unsafe learning environment.
JPAC and the bill’s authors are expecting a very tough fight, specifically from those who support the “Liberated Ethnic Studies” movement and those who believe only the main four major ethnicities (i.e., African American, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Latino/ChicanX and Native American communities) should be taught.
To be successful in our fight against hate, we must provide opportunities for people to learn more about ALL cultures and ALL histories that make people who they are. Through this effort, we can gain a better understanding of one another, and by doing this we have a greater chance to reduce the hate we see that is directed at “the other.”
Jason Moss is executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Greater
San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys.
