Holocaust survivor on Ye, 'This imbecile ought to be ashamed of himself'
MIAMI - Lonny Wilk from the Anti-Defamation League said the reaction to Kanye West's recent string of antisemitic rants was seen immediately.
"What we started to see was that extremists around the country had started to become emboldened by that," Wilk said.
Kanye, known as Ye, is quoted as saying he could go "Death con 3 on Jewish people." And later saying, "I could say anti-Semitic things and Adidas can't drop me. Now what?"
While Adidas did drop him, along with a host of other companies, the ADL said comments like this are dangerous.
This, as Florida, is already seeing a spike in hate crimes.
Here in South Florida, we've seen antisemitic notes left in baggies on lawns, and spraypainted symbols of hate among other things.
"Antisemitic incidents are increasing in the state of Florida. We've seen extremism occur and extreme ist groups emboldened from Key West to Pensacola," Wilk said.
In a recent report - the ADL found a 40 percent increase of antisemitic incidents from 2019 to 2020 — that was followed by a 50% rise in 2021.
Since 2012 antisemitic hate crimes in Florida are up 300%. "When we see antisemitic or hateful rhetoric we know we have to challenge it. We can't let hate and antisemitism be our normal.
Wilk says we all play a role in fighting bigotry. "We can use our voices to spread something better. We can use our voices to stand up against antisemitism and any form of bigotry and in this moment we must,' he said.
Holocaust survivor David Schaecter, 93, uses his voice daily to teach a lesson of tolerance. "What he does and what he's done is despicable," he said of West.
But he will also call out antisemitism, like what he saw with Kanye's rant. "It's very dangerous because of his fame, people listen and people think what he says as what he believes to be true," he said.
David knows the painful lesson of what happens when bigotry and hate go unchecked.
We joined him in 2012 as he returned to Auschwitz. Of the105 people in his family, he is the only one who made it out alive. He was just 11 when he was captured by the nazis.
"Do I understand what Holocaust means? Do I understand what inflicting pain means? Do I understand what demeaning means?" he asked. "I understand it all," he said.
David uses his voice every day to call out bigotry and to educate by telling the story of his family and urging people to stand up to hate.
"I'm praying, I'm praying... that the righteous people step up to the plate and tell this imbecile that he ought to be ashamed of himself," he said.