It Could Happen Here: Why America Is Tipping from Hate to the Unthinkable—And How We Can Stop It

In this impassioned yet uneven account, Anti-Defamation League CEO Greenblatt delivers a troubling compendium of recent incidents of hate and intolerance and offers practical advice on how to counteract such dangers. Contending that the normalization of racial slurs, negative stereotypes, and cruel teasing can foster violence by dehumanizing victims, Greenblatt urges readers to call out problematic speech and behavior even when it seems innocuous. He offers suggestions for how to counter hate and promote tolerance and humanitarian values in various contexts, including family, work, schools, and faith groups, though his suggestion that anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism are inseparable goes too far. He also has a tendency to argue against straw men, as when he claims that “commentators on the left soften their calls to destroy the Jewish state by... advocating for justice for the Palestinian people,” and that some proponents of critical race theory are intent on “denying individuals any degree of agency and negating the nuances that shape communities over time.” Though Greenblatt’s warnings about the dangers of normalizing bigotry are sound, he lets his political agenda get in the way of his message. Progressives, in particular, will be unconvinced. (Jan.)