PARADE Protesters Bring Growing Antisemitism to the Streets

In some ways, it was a surprise that antisemites took to the streets last week to demonstrate outside of PARADE. We don't see that sort of thing outside a Broadway show. We don't typically see it at all in New York City. But, if you were paying attention--and, as a member of an Anti-Defamation League NextGeneration Advisory Board, I have been--you would know that antisemitic sentiment is increasingly spilling onto the streets.

"It's critical that we look at this protest and see it through the lens of a broader disturbing trend that we're seeing across the United States," said Etzion Neuer, ADL New York/New Jersey Senior Deputy Regional Director. "This relatively small gathering of extremists, under the bright lights of Broadway in the middle of Manhattan, is in many ways emblematic. There's a rise we're seeing in extremism and antisemitism."

A recent ADL survey of U.S. adults found that approximately 20% believe in six or more antisemitic tropes, as opposed to 11% in a 2019 survey. Neuer believes this rising hate can be linked to three factors. The first is social media and its ability to give hate a forum. The second is the polarization of society. This one is a little less intuitive, but the theory is that when the right and left are pitted against each other, they do not look introspectively at their own group, allowing hate to fester within. The third is the emboldening of extremists; individuals now feel comfortable to protest outside PARADE or hang "Ye is right" banners over a California freeway.

Strangely, most people didn't even understand much of the hate being spewed outside PARADE. Leo Frank--the central character of PARADE (portrayed by Ben Platt)--is a name recognizable to white supremacists, those knowledgeable about Jewish history and some musical theater fans, not many others. Indeed, the majority of people I interviewed going into a preview of PARADE did not know who he was.

Frank's story is 110 years old. It was 1913, and he was living in Atlanta, managing his family's pencil factory, when a 13-year old employee, Mary Phagan, was found dead in the factory. Four men were arrested and released for the murder prior to Frank; Frank was brought to trial on the word of one of them, a factory aide. While there was no hard evidence against him, Frank was convicted of Phagan's rape and murder after a trial energized by antisemitism. (The factory aide is now thought to be Phagan's actual killer.) During the trial, residents gathered with signs that said: "Hang the Jew!" In 1915, when the Governor reduced Frank's death sentence to life in prison, residents did just that: a mob dragged Frank from his prison cell and lynched him. Some of those in the mob later revived the KKK. Great people.

The ADL was formed in 1913 too, not in direct response to the Frank trial, but the formation of the group and the treatment of Frank are linked together, evidence of that time in America. The ADL was also instrumental in the posthumous pardon of Frank. This is why the PARADE protesters badmouthed both Frank and the ADL.

Frank has become a favorite cause célèbre of neo-Nazis, who still proclaim his guilt. In the "don't believe everything you read on the internet" world, websites run by white nationalists purport to be research guides on the case but mix real evidence with doctored photos and white supremacist talking points. Tweets accuse Frank of murdering Phagan because of a ritual Jewish sacrifice (that doesn't exist).

What was on display outside the Jacobs Theatre is the same old in a more visible form. Of course, this being Broadway, the unions came out against it immediately. Performer Ari Axelrod held a community gathering (which I attended as a supporter, not press). Axelrod, Becca Suskauer, and Michael Kushner have since announced the formation of the Jewish Theatre Advocacy Coalition. The reaction has been strong and supportive. But, the truth is, in order to make headway against antisemitism, we must not only call out the aggressive and obvious hate, but also the more subtle ways antisemitism permeates our days. Watch for those. When Jews tell you about them, listen. Don't argue.