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Atlanta history teaches the violent toll of anti-Semitism

Author Melissa Fay Greene said Atlantans have learned, over several decades, the power of hate speech and how it fosters violence.

Atlanta: Amid a surge of bomb threats and vandalism at Jewish institutions nationwide, members of Atlanta's Jewish community have felt a familiar wave of apprehension about what may come next.

Because all of that, and worse, has happened there before. Six decades ago, during the turmoil of the civil rights era, 50 sticks of dynamite blasted a huge, ragged hole in Atlanta's largest synagogue. A generation earlier, in 1915, Jewish businessman Leo Frank was lynched during a wave of anti-Semitism.

Some in Atlanta fear that history is once again arcing toward the viperous climate that set the stage for earlier violence.

Author Melissa Fay Greene said Atlantans have learned over several decades the power of hate speech - and how it can foster violence.

( Source : AP )
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