A prominent figure in the Black Lives Matter movement, who had earlier remarked that being a Taylor Swift fan could feel “slightly racist,” is now back in the spotlight. She criticized a newly passed California bill designed to curb antisemitism in K‑12 schools, doing so right in front of her students at California State University.
Professor Melina Abdullah was teaching a course titled “Race, Activism, and Emotions.” In a video she uploaded to YouTube last September, she slammed the legislation, calling it “terrible” and accusing the bill’s supporters of “these fools don’t even like Jewish people.”
The bill, now known as AB 715, was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in October and is set to take effect in January 2026. It establishes an Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator within the Office of Civil Rights to address antisemitic incidents in public schools.
In her video, Abdullah argued that the legislation serves a dual purpose: silencing pro‑Palestinian voices and criminalizing classroom discussion that criticizes Israel. She went on to say, “The kinds of people who are doing this, they are the antisemites. They could give a damn about antisemitism. Donald Trump doesn’t care about antisemitism. He is an antisemite.”
She added that the bill could make genuine teaching “criminalized,” framing it as the latest attempt by the Trump administration—despite the legislation being a state, not federal, law—to suppress student activism.
Abdullah highlighted that every Jewish friend she has is against AB 715. In her remarks she stressed their opposition to the Gaza war and the “genocide” she believes Israel is conducting. She also claimed the bill was drafted by “two Zionists” backed by pro‑Israel donors.
She accused those behind the legislation of “not even liking Jewish people.” One of her comments questioned whether an old, white South Carolinian could truly claim love for Jewish people, suggesting a mismatch between the American flag and the Israeli flag. She warned that a “working for Israel” stance is problematic, urging students to lobby Governor Newsom to veto the bill before it became law.
Abdullah told her class that Governor Newsom seeks the presidency, that he “trolls” Trump—though she does not agree with most of his positions—and that elections are neither free nor fair. She urged her students to rely on union support and the votes of people of color as leverage to pressure Governor Newsom into pulling back AB 715.
The University’s statement, released by the Office of Ethics, said the professor’s use of her classroom to rally opposition against a modest anti‑antisemitism bill is part of a broader pattern. “Activist‑educators who hold sway over ethnic studies curricula—especially through faculty‑union committees and national networks like Black Lives Matter—are shaping instructional frameworks around highly politicized, exclusionary, and often overtly antisemitic doctrines that target Jewish students,” the statement read. The comment came from Tammi Rossman‑Benjamin, Director of AMCHA, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting antisemitism.
Abdullah was the 2024 vice‑presidential candidate alongside Cornel West, a well‑known activist and critic. California State University faced a probe earlier this year from the Trump administration over allegations of campus antisemitism, according to a report by NBC News.
These recent remarks echo earlier controversies, such as her 2024 post on X that questioned whether being a Taylor Swift fan is “slightly racist.” She identified herself as a co‑founder of the original Black Lives Matter movement and later launched a separate group called Black Lives Matter Grassroots.
Her legal battles have been numerous; she lost a suit against the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation and was ordered to pay roughly $100,000 in legal fees to BLM leader Shalomyah Bowers in 2024. Attempts to contact Professor Melina Abdullah and California State University did not immediately succeed.
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