'Together Against Hate': Antisemitic messages lead Jacksonville nonprofits to unity push

They are not out to change beliefs, not even those held by the people behind antisemitic messages projected on Jacksonville buildings over the past year.

They simply want to promote understanding among beliefs.

Adam Chaskin, CEO of the Jewish Community Alliance, and Eric Mann, CEO and president of the First Coast YMCA, have spearheaded an initiative called "Together Against Hate: Promoting Unity in our Community." Beginning in September, a speakers series will address such hot-button topics as faith, race, antisemitism, ethnicity, LGBTQ+, gender and diverse abilities.

"It's not about changing minds, but getting people to understand the differences," Mann said. "It doesn't cost you anything to be civil. We can disagree but it doesn't have to be nasty."

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Nastiness was on display in late 2022 and early 2023 when hateful, antisemitic messages were projected at Jacksonville locations.

A message projected on a TIAA Bank Field video board at the end of the Georgia-Florida game in October proclaimed "Kanye is right about the Jews," referring to the music artist who posted hate speech about Jews on social media. Other antisemitic messages last year included banners hoisted on an Interstate 10 overpass on Jacksonville's Westside and on the Arlington Expressway and a message projected on the outside of a downtown building.

Then in January, someone used a projector to put a large image of a Nazi swastika on the side of the CSX headquarters building on the Northbank Riverwalk.

Antisemitic incidents in Florida rose 42% from 2021 to 2022, with 27 logged in Jacksonville in 2022, compared to three the year before, according to the Anti-Defamation League tracking. So far in 2023, there have been 125 incidents statewide and three in Jacksonville.

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Chaskin and Mann forged a friendship after the alliance CEO arrived in Jacksonville in 2018. The organizations they run both aim to be inclusive: providing a range of programming open to the community.

Concern about the antisemitic messages led them into several conversations about taking some kind of communitywide action. They wanted to do "something real," Chaskin said.

"There are issues everywhere," said Chaskin, who has lived in New York and Washington, D.C. "My personal belief is that it largely has to do with lack of education and experience."

People who are against Jews — or Blacks or Arabs or any other population that is different from them — likely have not personally interacted with members of those populations. They need to spend time with them and be educated, he said.

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"I hope the outcome is education and awareness," Chaskin said. "I truly believe a lot of people are hesitant or hateful out of ignorance."

He said he knows fellow Jews who have heard comments such as, "I didn't know you were Jewish, you don't have horns."

Diverse speakers, diverse locations

Mann said the people behind such comments and the antisemitic messages "do not represent all of Jacksonville." The COVID-19 pandemic, with its forced separation and isolation, is partly to blame for their outbursts.

"The pandemic helped fuel civility issues we have in the community. We need to give people a chance to get together," he said. "They haven't had an opportunity to interact."

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"Together Against Hate" will bring speakers to diverse locations — Baymeadows, Riverside, San Jose and downtown — to encourage diverse attendance.

"I hope we're not just preaching to the choir," Chaskin said.

The speakers were selected "with attention to sensitive groups," he said. "There are many forms of hate or bigotry, this is not an exhaustive list. But we are fortunate to have many groups that are well-run and and do great work."

Speakers will include representatives from the Anti-Defamation League, an international anti-hate organization fighting antisemitism, extremism and bigotry, and these Jacksonville nonprofits: 904Ward, which works to build a more inclusive community; JASMYN, which helps LGBTQ+ youth and young adults; The Arc Jacksonville, which serves individuals with intellectual and developmental differences; LJD Jewish Family & Community Services, which provides a range of support services to people of all faiths; OneJax, an interfaith organization; and the Interfaith Center of Northeast Florida, which promotes interfaith understanding.

Also planned is the first Racing Against Hate 5k Run/Walk at the Winston Family YMCA in Riverside on Feb. 25.

"I think the more organizations gather together to talk about issues they're worried about, makes me hopeful … People owning the need to move forward in the community," said Kyle Reese, executive director of OneJax. "Any outcome that brings more voices around the table is a positive thing [particularly when those voices include] folks who need to hear it … new avenues of people who do not have this on their radar screen."

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The YMCA, in particular, is an ideal catalyst, Reese said. It is "not typically involved" in such discussions, has branches all over Northeast Florida and offers recreational programming to all comers, he said.

Mann agreed.

"Organizations like ours are very inclusive. We welcome them in. Just go to Winston [YMCA branch in Riverside] and see who's there," he said.

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JASMYN was "eager to partner" in the initiative, CEO Cindy Watson said.

"We often operate in silos and divided communities, but this partnership is focused on inspiring us all to come together across differences and look for common ties and messages of inclusion," she said. "As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, 'The time is always right to do something right.'"

In the past year, a "rise in homophobic and transphobic expression" has occurred in Florida and across the country, she said. Lawmakers are "increasingly pushing laws and policies that attempt to erase the LGBTQ+ community and restrict our access to safe and affirming places and services," Watson said.

"In some ways, this gives permission for hateful expressions to emerge. This cultural climate creates harm, especially for young people," she said.

One in three transgender youth report not feeling safe to visit a doctor or hospital, one in three have experienced cyber bullying and at least half have experienced physical violence, she said.

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Still, Jacksonville has many inclusive people and organizations.

"None of us are perfect, and there is always room for us to build bridges and create ways for us to come together," she said. "We can’t fully embrace our differences if we don’t understand them. We want our neighbors to understand the impacts of hate, no matter which form it takes … and to learn how we can also be better allies to other communities who experience hate and divisiveness."

Also at work fostering tolerance in Jacksonville is LJD Jewish Family & Community Services, which has launched a new initiative inviting local businesses and organizations to host "tolerance panels that help foster better working environments," using the nonprofit's free expertise.

"We’re here to educate and create a safe, nonpolitical space for those types of conversations," CEO Colleen Rodriguez said. "It’s important … to disseminate the truth and help educate our community about one another. Knowledge is power."

bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109

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TO KNOW MORE

For the Together Against Hate schedule of events and related information, go to jcajax.org/together-against-hate or fcymca.org/together-against-hate.

To host a free anti-hate panel, go to jacksonvilleholocaustmemorial.com/resisting-hate.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville YMCA, Jewish Alliance launch unity against hate