Group says $56,000 to be used for programs addressing bias and scapegoating, says front-runner’s campaign ‘has mainstreamed intolerance’
The Anti-Defamation League said Sunday it would give some $56,000 donated to the group by Donald Trump to anti-bullying education programs, pushing back against the US presidential candidate who has been derided for his browbeating tactics during the Republican race.
The cash will go to expand the ADL’s No Place for Hate anti-bullying and anti-bias educational program in schools in New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Atlanta, Houston, Denver, San Diego, San Francisco, Arizona and Las Vegas, the group said in a statement.
“These undoubtedly were sincere gifts,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO, in a statement released on Sunday. “But in light of the recent campaign, we have decided to redirect the total amount of funds that he contributed to ADL over the years specifically into anti-bias education programs that address exactly the kind of stereotyping and scapegoating that have been injected into this political season.”
The announcement comes a day before Trump is scheduled to address the largest gathering of American supporters of Israel at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee annual policy conference.
ADL also called on other groups, philanthropies and nonprofits to consider redirecting charitable funds given to them by Trump into similar initiatives “to combat hate, promote tolerance, and build a stronger American community,” the statement said.
“We are taking this step to demonstrate that, even as the campaign has surfaced ugly rhetoric, we can reach higher,” said ADL director Jonathan Greenblatt. “Even as his [Trump’s] campaign has mainstreamed intolerance, we can push back on the hate and evoke our better angels not just with words, but with deeds.”
In an opinion piece published on the Time Ideas website Greenblatt wrote that Trump’s “penchant to slander minorities, slur refugees, dismiss First Amendment protections and cheer on violence” prompted the decision.
The ADL and other Jewish groups in the US have been strident in speaking out against Trump for race-baiting against Muslims, refusing to distance himself from white supremacists and allegedly encouraging violence at his rallies.
As reported by The Times of Israel