Dr. Fleitman doesn’t understand why Jewish people might be nervous about what life will be like under a Trump administration.
After all, Trump’s daughter married an Orthodox Jew and converted, and his grandson is Jewish. Fleitman thinks people are worried because the Clinton campaign engaged in gross exaggeration in order to alarm the public. So I will remind him and your readers of why Jews are nervous about what is coming:
During the campaign, Trump tweeted an image of Hilary Clinton inside of a yellow, six-pointed star, with images of dollar bills floating around it, and the slogan “most corrupt candidate ever.”
Is Trump an anti-Semite? Probably not. But the image he presented is an unmistakable symbol of anti-Semitism. And it was an invitation to anti-Semites everywhere which said: “I’m your man.”
The people who spray-painted racist and anti-Semitic graffiti on Mount Tom saw that invitation, and the other invitations which Trump offered in his denigration of many other ethnic groups, and accepted them.
I will agree with Dr. Fleitman about one thing: we’ll have to wait and see how Trump acts when he gets into office. It’s odd that so many people are counting on him to not follow through on so many of the dreadful and goofy things he said during the campaign.
He came to power by fanning the flames of ethnic hatred; will he speak more responsibly as president? Will his Justice Department prosecute hate crimes? His appointment of Jeff Sessions, who was denied a federal judicial position because of racist statements, as attorney general is not an encouraging sign.
Joseph Blumenthal
Northampton