It Could Happen Here

Why America Is Tipping from Hate to the Unthinkable—And How We Can Stop It

By: Jonathan Greenblatt

Narrated by: Jonathan Greenblatt

“Refreshingly candid . . . Get off Instagram and read this book.” —Sacha Baron Cohen

From the dynamic head of ADL, an impassioned argument about the terrifying path that America finds itself on today—and how we can save ourselves.

It’s almost impossible to imagine that unbridled hate and systematic violence could come for us or our families. But it has happened in our lifetimes in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. And it could happen here.

Today, as CEO of the storied ADL (the Anti-Defamation League), Jonathan Greenblatt has made it his personal mission to demonstrate how antisemitism, racism, and other insidious forms of intolerance can destroy a society, taking root as quiet prejudices but mutating over time into horrific acts of brutality. In this urgent book, Greenblatt sounds an alarm, warning that this age-old trend is gathering momentum in the United States—and that violence on an even larger, more catastrophic scale could be just around the corner.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Drawing on ADL’s decades of experience in fighting hate through investigative research, education programs, and legislative victories as well as his own personal story and his background in business and government, Greenblatt offers a bracing primer on how we—as individuals, as organizations, and as a society—can strike back against hate. Just because it could happen here, he shows, does not mean that the unthinkable is inevitable.

The history and details that I was unfamiliar with

though not a "feel good " book, has many actionable ideas. Very pleasant voice to listen to

Moving…extraordinary….sad….realistic…inspiring

Must read. As important a book as you will ever read. Life changing. Urgent. Inspirational.

It’s ok but has serious flaws

It is ok content that educates about the rise of hate across the globe in modern times. My issue with it, is that it is that he can’t seem to escape the biases he has, and hyper focus on hatred toward Jews because he is Jewish. He literally acknowledges a fault of the ADL to label any criticism of Israel as anti-semitism, and then just goes on to do the same thing. He sprinkles in some of the hate crimes that are happening to other marginalized groups, but it seems half hearted and he seems to operate from the perspective that Jews are the most oppressed people ever across the world. I’m sorry but there are much more worthwhile books on this subject out there. If you are considering this book, I would consider the title: Spreading Hate, as it has a lot more meaningful lessons to learn about hate in the modern world. Other good reads would include: The Second Coming of the KKK or Prequel. These provide insights on the historical pathology of hate and a lot of past events that they don’t teach about in school but definitely should. This is not a horrible, brain rotting book, but you won’t gain nearly as much from it as other options out there.

Inspiring & Informative

I find Jonathan Greenblatt to be one of the most important voices of our day and if you haven’t heard him speak, it might be worthwhile to YouTube some of his appearances. In any case, knowing how much I admire him, keep in mind this review may be somewhat biased.

I am already familiar the topics covered in the book so I wondered if much of the information would be redundant. And you know how sometimes these kinds of books can be a little boring? Well, this was neither redundant nor boring. Hearing Jonathan’s perspective, personal reflections and anecdotes was both inspiring and informative. I also found myself feverishly taking notes many times in areas I needed to learn more about. Instead of watching the Housewives while I got ready for bed I chose to listen to more of this book! Dare I say it was a page turner?

Even though Jonathan covers very difficult issues, he always manages to keep his reader engaged and his goal is to empower them with the tools to change their own communities.

I highly recommend either listening to or reading It Could Happen Here.