The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas (JCRC) condemns President Trump’s remarks referring to Minnesota’s Somali community as “garbage.”

 

That is dehumanization—and when such language comes from elected leaders, ideas that should remain at the extreme margins of society are pulled into the civic mainstream.

 

Minnesota’s Somali community—like all communities—is diverse, complex, and not a monolith. Treating any group as one undifferentiated mass is itself a form of dehumanization.

 

As Jews, we carry the memory of what happens when people are spoken about as less than human. Our history is scarred by moments when Jews were depicted as filth, vermin, or disease. In our present, Zionists and Jews are dehumanized in public discourse. These echoes cannot be ignored.

 

Jewish tradition insists that every person is created b’tzelem Elohim—in the image of God. The rabbis teach that to degrade a single human being is to diminish what is sacred in us all.

 

 

The appalling fraud schemes in Minnesota demand serious solutions (including the ongoing investigations and prosecutions) but invoking those challenges to justify broad attacks on an entire community does nothing to solve the problem. It only deepens division and heightens the risk of lawless disorder.

 

We affirm the words of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who said this rhetoric “violates the moral fabric of what we stand by in this country as Americans.” We agree.

 

Minnesotans of every background must push such rhetoric back to the margins—and hold leaders accountable when they normalize it.

 

JCRC will continue advocating for a public square rooted in decency, truth, and shared responsibility.