June 12, 2020 / 20 Sivan 5780
Dear Friends,
Over the past few weeks, I, like many of you, have been awakened to the to the anger, disappointment and pain which permeates the black community. My personal connections with some of the leaders of the African American community in our area, have provided us with opportunities to engage in constructive dialogue and meaningful activities. These can constitute first steps in healing rifts and working toward greater equality, in treatment and in opportunity, for all people in this country. Once again, there are those who do not see the inequities, cannot feel the pain and remain deaf to the anguished cries which are emerging from the Black community in this country.
Joe Gale is one of our Commissioners on the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. His statement, on the letterhead of the Montgomery County Board, regarding the protests and demonstrations which occurred in Philadelphia, and in nearly every large city throughout the country, was given to the press. In his statement, found here, he has used his political position to demonize those who protested, to politicize the cause of equal treatment, safety and police brutality against blacks.
After reading the statement, I felt compelled to respond. The letter below is my response to that statement, which I sent to an ad hoc group of religious leaders, in support of the effort being initiated to censure Mr. Gale for his remarks.
We have much to learn in this country about tolerance, acceptance, equality and race. These are values which are not partisan. These are values that are essential for the proper governance of government. And, these are exactly the values which come under assault in the statement by Mr. Gale. I would feel delinquent if I did not respond.
To the Board of Commissioners:
The recent statement distributed by Joe Gale, is deeply hurtful, unnecessarily partisan and terribly inappropriate. Most disappointing, however, is that Mr. Gale's statement reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the events which have transpired and an inability, it seems, to distinguish between the essence of the protests and the interests of those on the fringes. In every city, individuals have exploited the crowds and the sentiments for the purposes of rioting and looting. This is not unusual. More importantly, however, Mr. Gale allows this to distract him from what is, in fact, behind the outrage most others feel.
To condemn rioting and looting requires neither moral gumption nor insight. We are all against lawlessness and robbery. But it is the role of leaders, civic, religious and others, to see through the façade of those opportunists to uncover the central elements of this conflict. This conflict, to a small degree, is about police brutality. To a greater degree, this is about racism and hate in America.
Rather than standing up for human rights, human dignity and the sanctity of all life, he has decided to denounce that which needs no denunciation. In the process, he has forgotten/overlooked the deeper issues which this country needs to address. Mr. Gale is content to live in a world of law and order, with police continuing to have free range to attack, inflict pain and, kill those "undesirables”, if they deem it necessary. It seems that Mr. Gale actually believes that, if we can only get rid of those few thugs (which he believes can easily be identified), we wouldn't be having these problems.
I believe that a strong and united voice is called for from our clergy and from the larger community of Montgomery County. Regardless of political affiliation, all should be outraged by the racism and hatred which our society has allowed to grow and to fester in our midst. All should be infuriated by the callous murder perpetrated before our eyes. And, minimally, anyone with any degree of concern for the sanctity of life would have condemned this horrific act. It appears that Mr. Gale is deficient even there.
Perhaps most egregious is his choice to invoke a reference to the Holy Bible as his source for the positions he has taken. In order to invoke the Bible, he must skip over those parts which speak of the Divine spark embedded in each person. He needs to skip that part in which explicit commandments forbid murder. He needs, as well, to overlook the verse, which many of us consider the Bible's most important: Love your neighbor as yourself.
How a person of such unbridled hate was elected is, at least for me, a mystery. What is clear, however, is that his election was a mistake. This mistake can be rectified only by removal of Joe Gale from office.
Rabbi Neil S. Cooper
