Hightower Statement on recent antisemitic incidents

Read in The Columbus Dispatch

The following is a statement from Stephanie Hightower, President & CEO, Columbus Urban League:

“The Columbus Urban League has stood tall against racism and discrimination for 105 years. As a proud advocate for an inclusive economy and society, we must speak out against injustice in our community. There have been two recent acts of hatred committed against Jewish organizations and people. We cannot be silent in condemning them.

“There is no place for disrespect and violence in our shared community, no matter how strongly oppositional our beliefs may be. Ironically, CUL’s annual Empowerment Day event occurs this week and we are featuring two speakers who fought to end the terrorist behavior of the KKK both through conversation and the justice system. Those are the proper forums and approaches to express and reconcile divergent views. We need to stand together or, in the haunting words of a minister who regretted his inaction during the rise of the Nazi party in Germany, ‘then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.’”