In America’s Heartland, Pioneers Deploy Civil Rights Laws To Tackle Rising Campus Antisemitism

A key turning point in the Civil Rights Movement was the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and Title VI of this milestone law was crafted to prohibit discrimination in federally funded activities, including education.This essential goal of safeguarding the constitutional rights of all Americans is as relevant today as ever. Amid the global surge of antisemitism in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, massacre, too many institutions of higher learning and elected officials have failed to stand up against the prejudice that Jewish students and Christian supporters of Israel are facing.While the Trump administration is enforcing civil rights requirements at educational institutions receiving federal funding, a parallel campaign against academic antisemitism has been launched on the state level here in America’s heartland.State legislative leaders and governors, including in Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and my home state of Oklahoma, are now taking the initiative to prevent the world’s oldest hatred from overtaking our own campuses and schools. Our Jewish populations may be relatively small, but we recognize rising antisemitism as a symptom of social decay that requires a robust response.A key factor in this outburst of hate has been the emergence of antisemitism as a potent organization tool for far-left political forces. The Combat Antisemitism Movement finds a nearly 200 percent two-year jump in total U.S. campus antisemitic incidents in 2024, and 90.3 percent of these incidents were linked to left-wing motivations, often influenced by Islamist agitators.Had the slurs hurled at Jews been directed at Black students instead, administrators would rightly apply the full force of civil rights laws. However, schools that spent years building “safe spaces” for vulnerable populations have offered little refuge to Jewish students facing not free speech violations but targeted harassment.Here in Oklahoma, we recognize trends can spread from liberal Ivy League institutions to state-funded universities. Indeed, the University of Oklahoma has seen marchers chant the genocidal slogan “From the river to the sea,” and an anti-Israel bomb scare forced classroom evacuations. At Oklahoma State University, the diversity committee in the Psychology Department sent an email soliciting students to participate in a “Week of Rage” organized by the campus Students for Justice in Palestine chapter. Alarmed by the use of Oklahoma taxpayer dollars to fund hate, I authored SB 942, one of the first-ever state Title VI bills in the country. The legislation requires antisemitic discrimination be treated similar to that motivated by race. It mandates, too, the integration of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism into student, faculty, and employee codes of conduct.It directs education authorities to designate a Title VI coordinator to monitor, review, and investigate antisemitic discrimination in publicly funded schools and post-secondary institutions. Schools failing to fulfill their duties in addressing antisemitism could lose state funding.Some critics smeared the legislation as politicizing antisemitism and undermining the First Amendment. These baseless assertions spooked many Democrats, as well as some “Freedom Caucus” Republicans, forcing what should have been a powerful example of bipartisan cooperation into a largely party-line vote. The bill ultimately passed in the senate and house relying on mainstream Republican backing, with only one senate Democrat supporting it, and it was signed into law by Governor Stitt last week.Similar legislation has been enacted in recent months in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky, and is being advanced in several other states, including Missouri.The Missouri bill’s sponsor, George Hruza, a state representative, is a son of Holocaust survivors. After testifying in favor of the legislation, Hruza and his wife were aggressively cornered by a keffiyeh-wearing mob at the state capitol, unveiling the pure, unadulterated hatred driving the opposition to these measures.Violent reactionaries attacking lawmakers is disturbingly reminiscent of the 1960s. However, fear and intimidation must not impede our fight against the unconscionable bigotry targeting Jewish students. I urge fellow state legislators across the country, of both parties, to join us in championing this new civil rights struggle.____________Correction: Kristen Thompson is the author of this article. An earlier version misspelled her first name.

In America’s Heartland, Pioneers Deploy Civil Rights Laws To Tackle Rising Campus Antisemitism

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