Rabbi Abram Goodstein on US Coast Guard reclassification of swastikas

Rabbi Abram Goodstein was raised in Anchorage where he graduated from Service High School. After graduating from Rabbinical School, he moved back to Anchorage where he has served as rabbi at Beth Shalom, home to the largest Jewish community in Alaska, for over 7 tears. Today, we are discussing the Washington Post article republished in the Anchorage Daily News from Thursday, November 20, 2025: “US Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas and nooses as hate symbols,” by Tara Coop and Michelle Boorstein. 

 After recording and editing the podcast, there was an update posted by one of the authors of the Washington Post story, Tara Copp. I will read her tweet from about 8:00 PM on Thursday night: "Late this evening, the Coast Guard published a new policy dated November 20th that reestablishes, swastikas and nooses as hate symbols, not as just, "potentially divisive," and states that they are expressly prohibited. Importantly, it says the new guidance published tonight would supersede any other policies out there."

Click here to read The Hill's article, "Coast Guard denies report it won’t classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols."