SAN DIEGO — There’s always something happening in our county, for good or for bad, that is of Jewish community interest
For example, Ken Stone of Times of San Diego reported on Sunday that a shopper at the Vons in Santee created quite an uproar with his choice of face mask. He donned the hood of a Ku Klux Klansman, prompting Tammy Gillies, San Diego regional director of the Anti-Defamation League to tweet: ““Don’t know which angers me more — the person wearing this or the fact that no one in management @Vons Santee did anything about it.” However, another Twitter user wrote: ““Several employees came over together and told the man to either remove the hood or he would have to leave, so he removed the hood. So troublesome in so many ways this is still happening in Santee at Vons. Disgusting!” Vons subsequently complemented its employees for taking action, and said, “This was a disturbing incident for our associates and customers, and we are reviewing with our team how to best handle such inappropriate situations in the future.” Santee Mayor John W. Minto subsequently messaged: “Many thanks to all who stepped forward to curtail this sad reminder of intolerance. Santee, its leaders, and I will not tolerate such behavior. Santee and its citizens are great, and this particular individual’s actions are not representative of us as a people and a wonderful city.”
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In another piece of disappointing news, the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies announced on Sunday that it is cancelling its scheduled conference that was planned in San Diego from Aug. 9-14 at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel. “Full refunds will be made within the next two weeks to anyone who has already registered for the conference,” the organization’s publicity chair, Sandy Golden, messaged. Hotel cancellations should be handled directly with the hotel. We are currently exploring options for a virtual conference and details concerning that virtual conference will be released as they become available on iajgs2020.org.
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On a more positive note, we are happy to report that our columnist Laurie Baron (known more formally as Professor Lawrence Baron, Ph.D, will be presenting a three-part film lecture series on line for the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture. His topic will be “The Great Jewis-American Female Directors.” All sessions will occur at 7:30 p.m., with the first, on Thursday, May 8 covering such pioneers as Elaine May and Barbra Streisand. On Tuesday, June 16, he’ll cover the works of Amy Heckerling, Susan Seidelman, Nora Ephron, and Nancy Meyers, and on Thursday, July 9, his subjects will be Lisa Cholodenko, Jilliam Robespierre, Lena Dunham and Jill Soloway. Click on any or all of these dates to register for the programs: May 7, June 16, and July 9.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com