UCSC Hosts Scholars, Dialogue, and Film Screening
Patrice O’Neill (Repairing the World Director and Not in Our Town Founder), Lauren Bairnsfather (CEO of Anne Frank USA), and Mehnaz Afridi (Professor of Religion and Philosophy and Director for the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University) lead a discussion following the film screening.
Note to readers: Since I wrote this post, the penetrating discussions that took place in Santa Cruz have become even more urgently meaningful. On June 1, another violent attack on Jewish people occurred on the streets of Boulder, Colorado, by a man who said he was motivated by “anti-Zionism.” It was the second eruption of antisemitic violence since two people were killed while leaving a Jewish-sponsored event in Washington, DC. - Patrice O'Neill
As universities across the U.S. face contentious divisions, the University of California at Santa Cruz Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is taking proactive steps to increase knowledge and dialogue across differences with a week long series of events on exploring antisemitism and Islamophobia. Last week for Jewish American Heritage Month I joined Holocaust scholars for challenging conversations on these issues with UCSC leaders, including a screening of Repairing the World: Stories From the Tree of Life at the Rio Theater. The program was led by UCSC Vice Chancellor Anju Reejhsinghani and her team who brought scholars Mehnaz Afridi, Lauren Apter Bairnsfather, and Edward Kissi to be part of the convenings. Learning from and Interacting with these scholars UCSC leaders and staff was profoundly gratifying.
After the film screening, Lauren Bairnsfather, CEO of Anne Frank USA and I spoke about the making of the film and the response in Pittsburgh. Lauren plays a vital role in discussing antisemitism in the film as the then-director of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. The two of us have appeared multiple times together to try to prompt deeper conversations about how antisemitism manifests, and how to build solidarity against all forms of hate.
Our conversation was powerfully led by Mehnaz Afridi, Professor of Religion and Philosophy and Director for the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University.
“Knowing we are all in this together takes me to your brilliant film. When hate can result in murder, as we all know, we must stand together. Antisemitism is an old hatred but all hate takes turns as does Islamophobia and black and brown racism. Your film shows that we don’t have to feel alone when our community is attacked but understand that it’s an attack on humanity,” –Mehnaz Afridi
In the post-screening discussion, Mehnaz spoke about how appreciative she was to have a conversation about community solidarity and how we interact with each other to address the issues of hate in our own communities. Someone in the audience spoke up after her comments to ask if this meant she didn’t care about Palestinians.
Mehnaz seemed taken aback by the implication and said that was not what she said or intended.
It remains so difficult to speak to each other about the searing issues that divide us, especially in the aftermath of the terror attack in Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza. There is so much pain and trauma, which unfolds every day as we read the news.
The discussions that evening and the following day with UCSC leaders touched on the power of communities standing for each other, varying views of the protests on campus, and a diverging understanding of words, including Zionism. Even in a small group, terms that holds deep meaning in our views of identity, history, morality and justice surfaced the misunderstanding and disconnect that can infect our discourse. At the same time, the discussions revealed a sincere openness to learning, and a shared commitment to find ways to help the larger community hold firmly to their sense of safety and belonging for everyone. People in the room cited the Repairing the World film as a way to open people to speaking to each other about shared values.
UCSC Community Relations leader Audries Blake reported on LInkedIn a profound personal impact from immersing herself in these challenging conversations:
“These presentations, along with other workshops throughout Jewish Heritage Month have been life-changing. They have re-established the importance of listening, listening again, and quieting my mind to ensure I am hearing what people are saying, learning from what they have gone through, and acknowledging what they know.”
I felt the same stirring hope from the events in Santa Cruz. Then, that very evening we heard news of the hate crime killing of Sarah Milgram and Yaron Lischinsky outside an event at the Capitol Jewish Museum in DC. (continued below)
Repairing the World with Aptos Junior High School and UCSC
UCSC staff Daodao Hou, Judith Estrada, Anne Frank USA CEO, Lauren Bairnsfather, and NIOT's Patrice O'Neill join Aptos Jr High teacher Amy Fitzgerald in a discussion with students. The University of California Santa Cruz DEI office sponsored copies for all students of The Christmas Menorahs, a book by Janice Cohn about the story of Billings, MT children's response to hate against one of their classmates.
Aptos Jr High teacher Amy Fitzgerald opened her seventh-grade class to a screening of the film and a discussion with me, Lauren Bairnsfather, Julia Estrada (Educational Program Director for the DEI program at UC Santa Cruz), and DEI staff member Dadao Hou.
Seventh graders are a tough audience, no matter what the topic. But over many years, I’ve seen inspiring discussions and models for action emerge when students are prepared and supported by their teachers.
The young people in the Santa Cruz County classroom were predominantly Latino. Especially now, they are not immune to the experience of bigotry and hate because of their identity. They are not alone. Whenever I speak to middle school students, I remember a seventh grader who appears in one of our films breaking down in tears when he says it “really hurts when people call you a terrorist”; the gay student who talks about his school day as “eight hours of pure hell” ; and the reports from many mothers who have reached out to report racist incidents targeting their Black children, not just by students, but by teachers as well.
What can we do to help young people see each other, recognize the deep harm of othering and bigotry, and find ways to stand up for themselves, and each other?
The conversation with thirteen-year-olds about antisemitism, racism, and bigotry reveals persistent questioning among students that often goes unspoken in the adult world. “Why would someone brutally kill a 90-year-old woman who they had never met?”, asked one student who would later reference the historical context of the Holocaust and the Civil War in the discussion. His remarks were a prompt to never underestimate the ability of a thirteen-year-old to grasp the lessons of history.
In the after film discussion, some students were grappling with the complexities of identity and antisemitism. A non-Jewish girl probed at her understanding of “whiteness”. Although some people from her family's country of origin in Europe were multiracial, she clearly identified herself as “white.” Dr. Lauren Bairnsfather pointed to her own pale skin but conveyed that millions of Jews around the world do not look like her. She explained the history of the migration of Jews to the United States from Russia as they escaped the violence of the pogroms, and also those who came from other parts of Europe. She acknowledged that she could walk in the world with the presumed privilege but the appearance of European ancestry does not exempt Jews like her from the millennia-old dangers of antisemitism. The deadly attack at the synagogue is an extreme, but real example.
I told the story of a blonde, light-skinned high school student who spoke after a screening of Repairing the World in Walnut Creek about a traumatic incident that forced her to consider her security and identity in a place that had previously seemed so safe. She reported walking with friends outside the town shopping mall when a man walked up to her, grabbed the Star of David necklace she was wearing from her neck, and moved very close to her face to say, “I see you, you Jew.” The story about someone near their age facing a threatening manifestation of antisemitism prompted audible gasps in the jr. high classroom.
Toward the end of the class session, Judith Estrada asked each student to say one word that might help them respond to hate and bullying. “Kindness, speaking up, standing up, respect” “were the words that flowed through the room from thirty young people who found time to learn and discuss the consequences of hate, and their own role in trying to do something about it. We look forward to what happens next at Aptos Jr High.
How do we respond to this eruption of hate violence on the streets of our cities? How can statements in the aftermath of hate have meaning without seeming performative?
Anju Reejhsinghani and I were having breakfast with Lauren Bairnsfather the day after the attack as she composed a message from Anne Frank USA about the killings at the Capitol Jewish Museum. We included her wise words in our social media message from Not In Our Town:
Yet again, we struggle to find words to respond to violent acts of hate, as we do now after two young people were killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum. Above all, we can never lose our compassion and commitment to standing firmly together against hate violence. The messages of support to the Jewish community from The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, The National Urban League, and Muslim organizations show the solidarity that is urgently needed. Thanks to all who walk the path of courage and empathy.
We are grateful for these words of hope from Lauren Bairnsfather, CEO at the Anne Frank Center.
“The Anne Frank Center USA believes in the power of young people to change the world. Today, all of us at the Anne Frank Center USA are saddened and outraged by the murder of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgram, two young people who were shot at close range while standing outside of the Capitol Jewish Museum in Washington DC yesterday.
Anne Frank wrote in April 1944 of the dehumanization experienced by Jews during the Holocaust: ‘Surely the time will come when we are people again, and not just Jews.’
It doesn't make any sense to blame two young Jews for the current war in Gaza and to believe their killing is justified. But that is the power of propaganda, extremist ideology, and hate speech.
Yet through the timeless voice of Anne Frank, we are reminded that even in the darkest of times, courage, empathy, and hope can illuminate the path forward. Let us work together to walk that path.”
Walking the path of compassion, empathy and action to address the hate that is threatening our communities, our country, our world is not easy. But failing to move will lead us to nowhere. In Santa Cruz last week, I felt like I was included in a powerful group of leaders, thinkers and students on this path, as we put one foot in front of the other, guided by hope and the light around the bend.
Many thanks to UCSC DEI Vice Chancellor Anju Reejhsinghani and staff Aracely Aceves Lozano, Judith Estrada and Daodao Hou for convening the film screening and discussion.
Follow this discussion and more on the new Not In Our Town Substack.
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