ICYMI: Biden-Harris Administration Takes Landmark Step to Counter Antisemitism

Today, as part of President Biden's National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, eight federal agencies clarified—for the first time in writing—that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits certain forms of antisemitic, Islamophobic, and related forms of discrimination in federally funded programs and activities. These wide-ranging protections provide important tools to curb discrimination based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics and to better protect the civil rights of all Americans.

Read more below:

Reuters: Biden administration to take new actions against antisemitism
[Staff, 9/28/23]

The Biden administration will take a new step on Thursday aimed at countering discrimination based on shared ancestry, with plans by eight federal agencies to use the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit certain forms of antisemitism.

Biden warned earlier this month that he felt antisemitism has "risen to record levels" and was a big challenge for the entire country.

The White House said that as part of Biden's national strategy to counter antisemitism, eight federal agencies clarified for the first time that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits certain forms of antisemitic, Islamophobic, and related forms of discrimination in federally funded programs and activities.

Axios: Biden administration broadens Civil Rights Act to counter antisemitism
[April Rubin, 9/28/23]

The Biden administration said Thursday it will use the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit antisemitism and Islamophobia in federally funded programs.

Why it matters: Antisemitic incidents in the U.S. hit a record high last year. The move is part of what the White House called the most comprehensive effort to counter antisemitism in American history.

• Eight federal agencies clarified — for the first time — that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits "certain forms of antisemitic, Islamophobic, and related forms of discrimination in federally funded programs and activities."

Zoom in: The agencies included are the Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, Treasury and Transportation.

• "We believe that Americans deserve the agency to receive the care they need regardless of what they look like or believe in," Melanie Fontes Rainer, the Health and Human Services civil rights director, said in a statement.

Jewish Telegraphic Agency: Biden expands Civil Rights Act protections at 8 cabinet departments to include antisemitism
[Ron Kampeas, 9/28/23]

The Biden administration is aiming to counter antisemitic discrimination in federally-funded transit systems, housing, food programs and other areas — one of the most major actions the White House has taken since it unveiled a far-reaching strategy to combat antisemitism in May.

[…]

"The Biden-Harris Administration will continue to lead a robust, whole-of-society effort to combat antisemitism and discrimination in all its insidious forms," a White House official said in an e-mailed statement. The four-page release was the most comprehensive accounting to date of how the antisemitism strategy has been implemented since May. Biden set a deadline of May 2024 for the strategy to be implemented across the executive branch.

The announcement includes a comprehensive list of initiatives already taken under the antisemitism strategy. It also comes the same day as President Joe Biden is set to deliver a speech in Phoenix at the McCain Institute, named for the late Republican senator, that will warn of threats of democracy from the far-right and former President Donald Trump.

Bloomberg: Biden Steps Up Legal Protections to Counter Antisemitism, Bias
[Jordan Fabian, 9/28/23]

The Biden administration strengthened a law aimed at curbing discrimination based on antisemitism or other religious biases.

[…]

The move was recommended in President Joe Biden's national strategy to combat antisemitism, which was released in May. The plan came in response to a growing number of antisemitic incidents in the US and worldwide.

The Huffington Post: 8 Federal Agencies For First Time Declare Civil Rights Act Protects Against Antisemitism
[Marita Vlachou, 9/28/23]

The White House on Thursday took new steps to fight antisemitism, with eight federal agencies officially declaring that an essential civil rights protection outlaws antisemitism amid a rise in hate crimes targeting Jewish people.

[…]

The announcement builds on the rollout of Biden's May 2023 national strategy for combatting antisemitism, including more than 100 steps the White House planned to address this type of hate.

"History teaches that hate never fully goes away; it only hides until it is given just a little oxygen," Biden said at the time. "That is why we must confront antisemitism early and aggressively whenever and wherever it emerges from the darkness."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Biden administration will use a landmark civil rights law to combat antisemitism
[Jonathan Salant, 9/28/23]

The White House said Thursday that it would apply the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act to cover bias towards Jews, part of the Biden administration's efforts to combat a rise in antisemitism.

[…]

The latest action comes four months after President Joe Biden and members of his administration released a detailed plan to combat the growing number of attacks on Jews, including the murder of 11 Pittsburgh worshippers in 2018.