A member of the Lowell School Committee in Massachusetts announced on February 26 that he is resigning after saying the anti-Semitic slur “k—” during a February 24 interview on a local television program.
The member, Robert Hoey Jr., said in an interview on Channel 8’s “City Life” that “we lost the k—, oh I mean the Jewish guy” when talking about his former colleague Gary Frisch. “I hate to say it, but that’s what people used to say behind his back,” he added, saying that Frisch “was the guy in charge of our budget.”
Following a backlash to his comments, Hoey announced in an emotional Facebook Live video that he will be resigning from his position on the committee and apologized for his remark. “I’m so sorry to that individual that was hurt by this, and I’m sorry to every individual across the country,” he said. Hoey also acknowledged having a “big mouth” and called himself “worse than Archie Bunker” and urged people to denounce the slur across the country.
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) New England tweeted, “We welcome Robert Hoey’s resignation & acceptance of responsibility which allows the community to heal and reaffirm that #antisemitism #racism #bigotry have no place in #LowellMA. Each of us has a continuing responsibility to call out #hate in real time.”
We welcome Robert Hoey's resignation & acceptance of responsibility which allows the community to heal and reaffirm that #antisemitism #racism#bigotry have no place in #LowellMA. Each of us has a continuing responsibility to call out #hate in real time. https://t.co/gVIwyAmMHT
— ADL New England (@ADL_NewEngland) February 26, 2021
Robert Trestan, director of ADL New England, told the Jewish Journal of Greater Boston that Hoey’s use of the slur was used in context of Frisch being involved in budgetary matters, which “enforces an anti-Semitic stereotype about Jews and money.” He also pointed out that after Hoey’s use of the term, no one on “City Life” called him out on it.
“If you hear someone say this and you remain silent and don’t call it out, you know, in some ways you’re just as culpable,” Trestan said. “One of the primary things we teach kids in school is that you should be calling out racism, anti-Semitism and hate in real time. Imagine if a teacher used that word in a school. What would the school do to the teacher?”
