Merrimack Valley Jewish Community Statement
It is with profound shock and dismay that we learned about a local antisemitic incident yesterday, February 24th, during a televised morning show. Robert Hoey, Jr., an elected official of the Lowell School Committee and guest on the show “City Life,” described a Jewish former colleague using an antisemitic slur, one used almost exclusively by neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Magnifying the offense, this slur was used in connection with the former colleague’s role as a financial manager, furthering a prevalent - and historically, sometimes deadly - antisemitic trope.
That an elected official in one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the Commonwealth would casually use such language is offensive; that he went on to make offensive remarks about other minority groups and individuals is appalling. Further, Mr. Hoey mentioned that the disparaging language he used has in fact been commonly used by his colleagues in the Lowell City government. This suggests antisemitism and intolerance within the workplace culture of our...