SEC condemns antisemitic message projected during Florida-Georgia football game
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TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla., on Oct. 29. Photo: John Adams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) condemned an antisemitic message that was projected onto the exterior of TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida, during the Georgia-Florida college football game on Saturday.
Why it matters: The antisemitic message approved of Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, and his recent hateful comments against Jewish people, according to WJXT, a Jacksonville-based CNN-affiliate television station.
- Additional antisemitic messages that also approved of Ye's comments were seen throughout the city, including above the Arlington Expressway and projected on the Wells Fargo Center and an apartment building.
- Antisemitic incidents have been on the rise in the U.S., hitting an all-time high in 2021, the Anti-Defamation League said earlier this year.
What they're saying: “We strongly condemn the antisemitic hate speech projected outside TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville after the Florida-Georgia football game Saturday night and the other antisemitic messages that have appeared in Jacksonville," the University of Florida and the University of Georgia said in a statement with the SEC.
- "The University of Florida and the University of Georgia together denounce these and all acts of antisemitism and other forms of hatred and intolerance. We are proud to be home to strong and thriving Jewish communities at UGA and UF and we stand together against hate," they added.
- “I am really distressed on all this antisemitic rhetoric around Florida-Georgia. It's hurtful. And I mean, it's not the Jacksonville I know and love and all of us have to work together to absolutely put an end to it. So let's stop it," Shahid Khan — owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, whose home facility is TIAA Bank Field — said, according to WJXT.
The big picture: Rep. John Rutherford (R), whose district encompasses most of Jacksonville, condemned the messages, as did Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry (R).
- "This stuff is disgusting to me. I've never understood it, and it's disgusting to me," Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said Sunday. "It's wrong. We have to push back against it."
- A banner with a similar message also referencing Ye's comments was hung from an overpass above a busy Los Angeles highway earlier this month by a hate group.
Go deeper: The organizations that have dropped Ye after antisemitic remarks
