Morally, Leo Terrell Has Perfect Pitch

A “child of the ‘60s” inspired by the civil rights movement, Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice, always knew that he wanted to fight for people to have equal rights in the legal arena.He expressed his gratitude to his parents, both of whom came from Jackson, Mississippi, for raising him in a Baptist home that welcomed people of all faiths and ethnicities. He recalled how his family had Jewish doctors and lawyers. He told the Magazine, “We had an open door. We didn’t see color or religion, we just saw friends.”Although Terrell grew up in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, he said the schools he attended “were initially segregated but they were integrated, so I had tremendous early exposure.” He attended Gardena Senior High School in Southern California, which he described as “the United Nations, a combination of every ethnic group.”Despite being educated in a multicultural environment, he still experienced racism. “I knew for a fact that kids were segregated based on race. I saw that, I experienced that,” Terrell said. “It was a blessing of having all different types, people in school, but you also saw some people who didn’t understand or appreciate different ethnic differences.” He remembered becoming aware of antisemitism in high school and how it bothered him when derogatory terms toward others were used.

Terrell was inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. and the coalition of Blacks and Jews uniting for equal rights. He referenced the tragic murder of activists Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney, who were investigating the burning of a Black church in Mississippi when they were killed by the Ku Klux Klan. He spoke about how Jewish leaders traveled down South to advocate for Black civil rights, and how Henry Moskowitz, Rabbi Emil Hirsch, Rabbi Stephen Wise, and Lillian Wald co-founded the NAACP in 1909….

Terrell’s vast experience fighting discrimination prepared him for his role today. In the 1990s, he was an appointed member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Advisory Council and co-chair of a statewide commission against hate crimes in California. On February 3, 2025, President Donald Trump appointed Terrell as chair of the Department of Justice Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism.

Expressing his gratitude to President Trump, Terrell said, “This man has given me the authority, under executive order, to head this task force…For those who believe in freedom of religion, we have a unicorn in the White House…If Trump was not in the White House, we would be in trouble.” He called Trump “the best friend in the White House the Jewish community ever had; the best friend in the White House Israel’s ever had.”

Terrell referred to the extreme rise in antisemitism today as “historic,” and called it “a wake-up call to America and Western civilization.” He said his phone “never stops ringing about antisemitism.”

He described how he and Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee are on the same page. “You’ve got two people who are not Jewish who understand what the war is all about on fighting antisemitism,” Terrell said.

He expressed how his biggest concern is that the fight against antisemitism doesn’t stop when Trump’s presidency is over. “It is critical that we set up guardrails to make sure that the Jewish community is protected… [so] any incoming president has to make sure they’re committed to these obligations to protect Jewish Americans,” Terrell said he left his position at Fox News as a contributor and legal analyst because of Trump’s commitment to fighting antisemitism. “He has given me a green light to do everything I can.”…

I wrote in the first paragraph above that Leo Terrell is a very good man. That is not sufficient. Morally, Leo Terrell has perfect pitch.