One of the benefits of teaching American history for more than half a century, at times in a college and a high school setting, is that I had the opportunity to assess the approaches U.S. presidents used to respond to challenges they faced. From 1979 to 1981, President Jimmy Carter was faced with a challenge from Iran. Iran was holding more than 50 American hostages in the American Embassy in Tehran. Carter attempted a rescue of the hostages; it failed. By the time Carter was voted out of office, the hostages were still in captivity. On the day Ronald Reagan took office, all, not some of the hostages were released. No bluster, no promises and no bloviating from President Reagan.
In 1957, the “Little Rock Nine,” a small group of African American students were denied entrance into Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. It was their civil rights that were being denied, the right to an unobstructed education in America. President Dwight D. Eisenhower nationalized the Arkansas National Guard. He backed up the National Guard with the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army. These nine African American students could not be denied unimpeded access to education.
Contrast the experiences of the “Little Rock Nine” with that of Jewish students in America from 2023 to 2025. Harassed and intimidated by protesters throughout the campuses in America, neither President Joe Biden nor President Donald Trump, nor the governors, nor the mayors of American cities have been inclined to take dramatic action to preserve the civil rights of Jewish students. In 1877, the U.S. government took steps to control the KKK. It seems that Jews are outside the DEI concept, the civil rights protection, the Red Cross protection, and even the veracity of the American media. Jews do not burn down cities, do not destroy public property, and do not hide behind “Semitephobia.” What other ethnic group would tolerate what is happening to Jews today?