There should be no partisan answer to hatred

At the Sept. 1 Town Board meeting, Peter Cleary, chairman of the Yorktown Democratic Committee, raised concerns about incidents of antisemitism in Yorktown.

He suggested that these incidents seem to be a common occurrence here compared with other communities and asked what more I intend to do about it.

It is a fair question to ask what government can do to combat hatred. But I disagree with the suggestion that Yorktown is somehow uniquely afflicted by antisemitism, and I strongly reject any implication that these incidents have not been taken seriously.

Antisemitism is a growing problem that extends far beyond the borders of Yorktown. Every incident here is one too many, and every one deserves an appropriate response. But we should also be careful about portraying Yorktown as a community defined by hatred when that is simply not the Yorktown I know or the record of this community.

My commitment to confronting antisemitism did not begin when I became Town Supervisor. In 2017, while serving as a Town Councilman, I started Yorktown's annual Holocaust Remembrance program. I believed then, as I do today, that remembering the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust carries with it an obligation to educate future generations about where hatred, dehumanization and indifference can lead.

Through that program, we have brought Holocaust survivors into our community so residents — particularly our young people — can hear their stories firsthand. Their message is not simply about remembering history. It is about recognizing hatred when we see it and understanding our individual responsibility not to allow it to take root again.

When swastikas and antisemitic graffiti have appeared in Yorktown, I have spoken out. Our police department has investigated. Our town employees have acted to remove hateful symbols, and where individuals could be identified, law enforcement has taken appropriate action.

Most recently, when antisemitic and racist graffiti was discovered on the Atomic War Veterans Memorial Bridge, Yorktown responded even though the bridge is under New York State jurisdiction. Our police department documented the vandalism and coordinated with the appropriate state authorities, and our Parks Department removed it as quickly as possible. We didn't use jurisdiction as an excuse to wait for someone else. We acted.

But my opposition to religious hatred has never been limited to antisemitism.

When St. Patrick's Stone Church was vandalized in 2020, I responded. When security concerns arose this year at the Hudson Valley Islamic Community Center following a mosque shooting, I reached out there as well.

That matters to me. I cannot ask my neighbors to stand with the Jewish community when we are targeted and then remain silent when Christians, Muslims or members of another faith feel threatened. Religious tolerance has to work in every direction.

This is also deeply personal.

I am Jewish. I proudly wear a Chai, and there is a mezuzah on the doorway of my Town Hall office just as there are mezuzahs on the doorways of my home. I do not hide my faith.

But recently I met a young Jewish father in our community who initially did not know that I was Jewish. When he noticed my Chai, he told me that he was Jewish too, but that he was cautious about displaying it because he has a 3-year-old daughter and worries about his family's safety.

That conversation stayed with me.

No Jewish parent should feel that way. No Muslim parent should feel that way. No Christian parent should feel that way. No one should believe that openly practicing or identifying with their faith places their family at risk.

So when Mr. Cleary asks, "What more are you going to do?" my answer is that we will continue to educate. We will continue our Holocaust Remembrance program. We will continue to investigate acts of hatred. We will remove hateful graffiti. We will work with our houses of worship and law enforcement on security. We will speak out, and I will continue advocating for stronger protections against religiously motivated violence and harassment.

But I also made another point in my immediate response at the Town Board meeting, and I believe it is an important one: government cannot do this alone.

Some of the most important lessons about hatred, tolerance and respect are learned long before someone enters Town Hall. They are learned at home.

Parents and families have an enormous responsibility to teach children that drawing a swastika is not a prank. Defacing a church is not a prank. Threatening a mosque is not a prank. Using someone's race, religion or ethnicity as a weapon against them is not harmless behavior.

Government can pass laws. Police can investigate crimes. Schools can educate. Community leaders can speak out. But none of those institutions can replace the values taught around a family's kitchen table.

That is why I believe the answer is not to label Yorktown as a community where antisemitism is commonplace. The answer is for all of us — government, schools, religious institutions, community organizations and, most importantly, families — to reinforce the values that overwhelmingly define this community.

Mr. Cleary and I may disagree politically, and he has every right to challenge me about what town government is doing. But antisemitism should not become another partisan dividing line.

I started Yorktown's Holocaust Remembrance program nearly a decade ago. I have stood against antisemitic vandalism. I have stood with Catholics when their church was vandalized and with Muslims when their community faced security concerns. I have spoken openly about my own Jewish faith and about the dangers of indifference.

And I will continue to do so.

There should be no Democratic answer to antisemitism and no Republican answer. There should be a Yorktown answer: we confront hatred when we see it, we educate our children about where it can lead, we protect one another regardless of faith — and we teach those values at home.

Ed Lachterman is the Yorktown Town Supervisor.