Republican state legislators Rep. Walker Thomas and Sen. Rick Girdler in Kentucky didn't hesitate to dish out discriminatory language during a recent committee meeting, shocking their progressive peers. It would have been easy to use a phrase that wasn't doused in racism, but instead these Republicans defaulted to tired anti-Semitism.
It's extremely troubling that these views still exist anywhere in 2022, let alone in our legislative chambers. The fact that two men serving in government felt comfortable publicly using and chuckling over the phrase "Jew them down" should be a major wake-up call about who's still making decisions for our communities. Not only did they say it, they laughed about it. There are plenty of phrases that would have sufficiently made their point without any harm, but instead they chose to further perpetrate anti-Semitic hate.
Add your name to call for the resignations of Kentucky legislators who used anti-Jewish slurs in a hearing!
A statement from the Kentucky Jewish Council noted that "[w]ords of hate, even if not said with hateful intent, cause damage." They continued, "Every elected official should take this as a learning opportunity. This is not a simple turn of phrase. It's a dangerous relic of a hateful bygone era that has no place in Kentucky."
We cannot continue to allow hate speech from our elected officials to pass by with less than a slap on the wrist.
Sign your name to demand the Kentucky legislators resign for their anti-Semitic language!
