ADL Says Dick Gregory Comparison between Walmart and Nazi Regime "Inappropriate and Offensive"

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed concern at remarks made by comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory in front of the DC City Council Building on September 17 at a rally for the District of Columbia's s living wage bill. During his speech to more than 100 people attending the rally, Gregory reportedly stated that "When you look at Hitler and those thugs, you can put Walmart right next to them."

David C. Friedman, ADL's Washington, DC Regional Director issued the following statement:  

While Dick Gregory is certainly entitled to his passionate beliefs about the living wage bill, his comparison between Walmart and the Nazi regime and its murderous policies, which resulted in the deaths of six million Jews and millions of others in the Holocaust, is deeply offensive and has no place in civil political discourse. 

Such comparisons only serve to trivialize the Holocaust and are extremely hurtful to Jews and other survivors, as well as the millions of Americans who fought valiantly against the Nazis in World War II.

In a letter to Gregory, ADL called on him to retract his inappropriate and offensive remarks and to refrain from using Holocaust comparisons in the future.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.

SOURCE Anti-Defamation League

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