How a small town family shaped my views on the Jewish Community

• Published date: 13 September 2021

Politicians these days consider standing with Jewish Americans and Israel as detrimental to their political careers. These politicians – Democrats for the most part – are afraid to take a stand against anti-Semitism. They refuse to acknowledge what our Jewish brethren have accomplished for our country, and they refuse to acknowledge Israel as a nation. We cannot tolerate this behavior in the United States of America any longer.

When I am elected governor of Georgia next year, I will proudly support and recognize what our Jewish communities mean to our extraordinary state, regardless of how controversial my political opponents may deem it.

Our Jewish communities have positively impacted my life for as long as I can remember, and I have worked my entire political career to repay that debt. My relationship with our nation's Jewish communities started when I was just a child, and I saw firsthand the special relationship that African American communities shared with our Jewish brothers and sisters.

I was raised with my siblings in the small town of Laurinburg, North Carolina. My parents were farmers who did their best to provide for us. We never had the nicest luxuries in life, but they ensured that we had food in our bellies and shirts on our backs. Laurinburg was also the home to the Risk family – a kind Jewish family that settled down in our neck of North Carolina. The Risk family owned a merchant store in town, which was common for small rural communities at the time.

Despite my parents being simple farmers, Mr. and Mrs. Risk always treated them with the utmost respect. My parents would often take us to the Risk family's store to buy us a new suit of clothes. When Mr. Risk would take my measurements, I can remember how kind and caring he was to make sure I looked nice in the clothing he tailored for me. He genuinely made me feel like royalty. And when our parents couldn't afford the clothes, Mr. Risk would tell them to just pay their debts when they could afford it. That meant so much to us, and I have never forgotten the Risk family's kindness and generosity.

In fact, they are the reason I pushed to recognize Jewish heritage in my time as an elected official. It was a goal of mine to ensure the hardships and the culture of our Jewish communities were recognized when I was elected as Chief Executive Officer of Dekalb County, Georgia.

Soon after I was elected to the office, I established an annual Holocaust commemorative service in Dekalb County to honor and...