(December 4, 2013) Reverend Al Sharpton, President of the National Action Network, and Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, have joined forces with hip-hop legend Russell Simmons and Jewish leader Rabbi Marc Schneier, Chairman and President, respectively, of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, in speaking out on knockout game violence and the targeting of Jews.
Rev. Sharpton, Mr. Simmons, and Mr. Morial have each recorded messages of solidarity with the Jewish community and all victims of this outbreak in violence and are encouraging people to join them through social media by spreading the following message:
End the #knockoutgame #sayNO2KO join the @FFEUny to end the violence +bigotry. Knockout #gameover and a link to each video (links below).
Rabbi Marc Schneier, remarked “The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding believes that we must take every opportunity to stand united against bigotry and violence of any kind.” Simmons commented “To pick on people because they are Jewish or for any reason is unacceptable.”
Reverend Al Sharpton said “These kids are targeting innocent people, and in many cases specifically targeting Jewish folks. We would not be silent if it were the other way around, and we will not be silent now. This behavior is racist, period. And we will not tolerate it.”
Marc Morial said, “Let’s be very clear about one thing – this knockout game is not a game. It is wrong, and it is deadly. It is wrong to target people from any community, including our Jewish brothers and sisters. Instead, we should be focused on embracing and fostering a nation, cities, and communities of peace, fairness and justice. Injustice perpetuated through any of us is an injustice to all of us.”
The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (ffeu.org) was founded in 1989 and has become the national address for Black-Jewish relations and the international address for Muslim-Jewish relations.
Videos (Click to watch):
Reverend Al Sharpton speaks out against the Knockout game
Marc Morial: "It is wrong to target our Jewish brothers and Sisters with this so called game"
Russell Simmons: "To Attack Defenseless People is not cool, its cowardly"
