Sigmund Livingston was the founder of ADL in the year 1913. ADL is a nongovernmental organization that is located in the United States. The organization was formed with an aim of fulfilling certain functions. It was formed specifically to eliminate defamation of the Jewish community in the United States. It wanted to ensure that the Jewish community received fair treatment and respect from other members of the society. After some time, the organization diversified its mission to incorporate the fight against anti-Semitism and to ensure that democratic ideas are appreciated by all people. The organization also aims at ensuing that there is equal treatment to all members of the society regardless of their religion, race, and beliefs. It wishes to ensure that the human rights of all individuals are effectively protected.
ADL has evolved so much since its formation. The organization had one office that was located at Chicago when it was formed. However, the organization currently has about 31 offices in the United States. The organization also has some more offices in the rest of the world. This shows that the organization has grown to serve a greater population of the people. The organization has also changed from being a commission to an independent organization that has no membership. The organization also has an independent board of directors currently. The organization also has evolved to hire all the various specialists that the people need in the society. These specialists include lawyers, specialists in religion, politics, foreign affairs and other displaces. These specialists help to serve the needs of the ADL customers.
ADL sought to deal with stereotypes in the society, prejudice, discrimination and scapegoating. Many people confuse these words even though they have differences. In the first place, stereotypes are beliefs about a certain group of people that result when people generalize about a population using a very small sample that is not a representative sample. An example is where people belief that people from a certain community are thieves. Prejudice is where an individual makes conclusions without getting the necessary facts that are helpful in making decisions. For example, an individual may conclude that a friend is going to lend money without any questions even though the friend is not in a position to lend the money at that time. Discrimination on the other hand is favoring a particular group on the basis of tribe, religion, or race. An example is where an employee gets a job on the basis that he/she is a white and not from another race. Scapegoating is the process of separating an individual from a group of individuals so that the whole blame can be placed on the identified parties. An example is where girls in a class argue that their poor performance is due to the fact that the boys are favored in class.
Over the last decades, anti Semitic beliefs have fallen over time. Study in 1990s revealed that the proportion of people who hold anti Semitic believes had declined to 20 percent. Up to date, study shows that the percent has continued to decrease. In 1992, the proportion had fallen to 12 percent. This shows that the people who hold the beliefs had declined. A recent study has shown that the percentage has increased to 17 percent. This shows that anti Semitic beliefs are still highly prevalent in the United States community.
Anti-Semitic beliefs are common among the Americans, Hispanics born in United States and outside the United States. Even though other groups have anti Semitic beliefs, this group forms the highest number of persons who hold anti Semitic beliefs.
It is important that organizations develop a plan to reduce stereotypes and prejudice. None of these strategies can work independently. A combination of these strategies can work out to solve the problems. One strategy is to have a board of directors and the executive members of the organization should originate from different groups and race. This will imply that there is no minor group in the organization. Secondly, the organization should collect data on earlier stereotypes and prejudices in the society and their effects. Publishing this information can help the employees learn that stereotypes and prejudices are not good for the organization. This can help reduce stereotypes and prejudices in the society.
References.
B'nai B'rith. (1991). ADL in the courts: Litigation docket. New York, NY: The League.
