How a small town in Texas said no to antisemitism
March 15, 2022
Helotes, Texas, population 11,320, is located just northwest of San Antonio. The city still maintains some of that “old West” feeling from its early beginnings as a stagecoach stop between San Antonio and Bandera.
The city was recently the target of a white supremacist group, which distributed nearly 100 flyers on the driveways and front lawns of homes in the quiet, leafy suburbs in the early morning hours of February 16, 2022. The flyers spread antisemitic propaganda that included racist messaging and antisemitic tropes. They claimed Jews are responsible for Covid. The group uses the flyers to get media attention, donations, and to recruit more followers. Similar flyers have been distributed in Alamo Heights, Shavano Park, western and northern San Antonio.
Residents of Helotes reported the hateful flyers immediately to law enforcement who collected them and is investigating their origin. Helotes leadership did not stop there. City council member Linda Salazar reached out to the Jewish Community Relations Council, the ADL, and Temple Beth-El. She was determined to do something to stand up against these hateful messages. Salazar and Helotes Mayor Rich Whitehead asked if a Rabbi could come to the next City Council meeting as symbolic support for the Jewish community. Rabbi Joel Lax, of Congregation Rodfei Sholom and NCSY, obliged and gave the invocation at the meeting. JCRC Chair, Mina Lopez, JCRC Director Lisa Epstein, and members of the Helotes area Jewish community attended the meeting to thank the mayor and city council in person.
As the meeting started, Mayor Whitehead publicly denounced the messaging of the flyers and spoke out against hate of all kinds.
Lisa Epstein, Director of the JCRC, said of the event, “The only way to combat the spread of these hateful messages is for leaders to speak out openly against them. We appreciate the leadership of Helotes setting an example for the people of Helotes and for showing them through their own actions a vision of what Helotes should be like.”
We ask if you see any of these flyers, you report to the JCRC Director and the local police, and do not post photos of the organization’s name or website on social media. The Center for Extremism of the ADL reports that these hate groups feed off media and social media attention. The more attention they get, the more likely they are to escalate.