Jonathan Greenblatt

****

The main thesis of the book is that it's a slippery slope from casual bigotry to discrimination and violence. As a result of this approach, at times he seems to overreact to relatively minor slights and "microaggressions" (e.g. an offhand slur in a joke on Twitter, an elementary school bully who happens to pick on a Jewish victim, etc.). But he does ultimately paint a convincing picture of how things could rapidly spiral out of control.

As the CEO of the ADL, Greenblatt is understandably show more mostly concerned with combating anti-semitism in the US, but also addresses related hate crimes against other communities, and uses the situation in Europe as a cautionary tale. He tries hard to appeal to both sides of the American political divide, but doesn't hold back in his criticism of trump and his enablers.

The book feels a bit like it's been cobbled together from existing resources, but within each chapter the writing is mostly to the point with clear and direct examples and exhortations. He does come across as a bit self-aggrandizing, but given the constant level of attacks he receives from both sides, perhaps that's an inevitable response.

Although I don't agree with everything he says, I've rounded up a star in the rating to combat the negative reviews that exemplify the very tendencies he's warning against. show less

It Could Happen Here by Jonathan Greenblatt is a warning about and a handbook for battling hatred and the possible escalation of it into a (more) genocidal society.

This book is inclusive in that it addresses all hate directed at people's identity. Some things do illustrate the understandable, though slightly skewed, emphasis on antisemitism as a precursor. For example, in talking about the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue, he seemed to use it to state explicitly that if jews weren't safe show more in their holy places then others wouldn't be following suit. Though the African-American community in the United States was and has long already been fully aware of this, notably a few years before the Tree of Life attack with the Emanuel AME Church attack. So while the hatred and the solutions offered in this book cover all bases, mistaken priority as far as within US society is evident.

That issue is one of a writer placing emphasis on what matters most to him and not on his neglecting other groups, so it is less important than I likely make it out to be. But it is still present and does illustrate some minor degree of bias and artificial hierarchizing. Having said that, the points made in recognizing and combatting hatred are valuable for everyone to know as we face these treacherous times.

Highly recommended for those wanting to both keep from becoming radicalized themselves and limit radicalization in others.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less