By Brian Grim
A new study finds that extensive antisemitism has nearly doubled in the United States between 2019 and 2022. In 2022, 20% of American held extensively antisemitic views, up from 11% in 2019.
The nationally representative survey by ADL measured the level of antisemitism by the number of negative anti-Jewish tropes* people surveyed agreed with. If they agreed with six or more, they were considered to hold extensive antisemitic prejudices.
* Antisemitic tropes, canards, or myths are “sensational reports, misrepresentations, or fabrications” that are defamatory towards Judaism as a religion or defamatory towards Jews as an ethnic or religious group. Since the Middle Ages, such reports have been a recurring motif of broader antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Nearly half of the anti-Jewish tropes people agreed with were associated with business (see chart below), which makes business a key sector of society that must engage in combating these prejudices.
ADL has a series of tools for businesses to use, some drawing upon the research and work of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation. For example, citing our Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) Index, they suggest that forming Jewish employee resource groups (ERGs) as a way to both raise awareness of this problem as well as provide support structures for Jewish people and their allies in workplaces.
If your company would like to learn and do more, contact us.
The nationally representative survey of 4,007 people across America by the National Opinion Research Center was conducted September through October of 2022 on behalf of the ADL Center for Antisemitism Research.