The complicity of Superintendent Spencer and the board of education in connection with the antisemitic walkout at Teaneck High School on November 29 was disgraceful, to say the least. However, instead of—or in addition to—complaining about it on various WhatsApp chats, there is concrete action that we can take. Title IV and VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibit the type of conduct that we have just witnessed. The U.S. Dept. of Justice and the Dept. of Education are looking into the conduct of Cornell, Columbia, Harvard and others, to see whether they have failed to protect Jewish students and teachers against antisemitism, in violation of these federal laws. We should not allow what happened at Teaneck High to fall through the cracks.

Accordingly, I believe that anyone who cares about what happened can, should and indeed must write to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to express his or her concerns and fears. He can be reached at https://www.justice.gov/doj/webform/your-message-department-justice

or

U.S. Dept. of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, D.C. 20530.

By way of example, my letter to the Attorney General can be accessed at https://tinyurl.com/26hsytdw

Martin Stein
Teaneck