Leonard Zeskind

Leonard Zeskind
Zeskind in 1987
Born(1949-11-14)November 14, 1949
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
DiedApril 15, 2025(2025-04-15) (aged 75)
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
OccupationsJournalist
Human rights activist
Notable workBlood and Politics
Spouses
  • Elaine Cantrell (divorced)
  • Carol Smith

Leonard Harold Zeskind (November 14, 1949 – April 15, 2025) was an American journalist and human rights activist. He was president of the Institute for Research and Education of Human Rights (IREHR), a social justice and public affairs watchdog organization.[1] Zeskind wrote the 2009 book Blood and Politics, about the history of xenophobia and white nationalism in American politics.

Background

Leonard Harold Zeskind was born in Baltimore, Maryland on November 14, 1949, and grew up mostly in Miami, Florida.[2] He enrolled at the University of Miami and the University of Kansas, but did not earn a degree.[2] He was expelled from the University of Kansas for participating in protests against the Reserve Officers' Training Corps during the Vietnam War.[2][3] For thirteen years prior to his concentration on human rights, he worked in industry, including stints on an automobile assembly line, installing refrigerator motors in vending machines, and as a welder and first-class fitter in steel fabrication plants.[1]

Career

Zeskind became a community activist and human rights advocate. He led the Center for Democratic Renewal from 1985 to 1994.[3] He was known for his research into extreme right, racist, and antisemitic organizations in the United States. In 1998, he was an honoree of the MacArthur Fellows Program.[3] The Institute for Research and Education of Human Rights served as a resource about such groups and their members when information about them rose dramatically following the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[4]

He was a lifetime member of the NAACP. He also served on the board of directors of the Petra Foundation and the Kansas City Jewish Community Relations Bureau.

Zeskind wrote the 2009 book Blood and Politics, about the history of xenophobia and white nationalism in American politics.[2] The New York Times noted his thesis that such views were only growing more mainstream was met with some skepticism at the time, but the book was viewed as increasingly prescient in the years to follow, particularly after the 2017 Unite the Right rally and similar events.[2] In 2025, the book was among those removed from the library of the United States Naval Academy as part of the U.S. Department of Defense censorship of DEI-connected material.[2]

Personal life and death

After a marriage to Elaine Cantrell ended in divorce, Zeskind married Carol Smith.[2] He died from pancreatic cancer at his home in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 15, 2025, at the age of 75.[2][5]

Awards

Works

  • The Christian Identity Movement: A Theological Justification for Racist and Anti-Semitic Violence (1986)
  • "Racism, Anti-Semitism and the Murder of Dr. Tiller". The Huffington Post. June 2, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  • —— (2009). Blood and Politics: The History of the White Nationalist Movement From the Margins to the Mainstream. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-10903-5.

References

  1. ^ a b Burghart, Devin (September 18, 2009). "Board". IHEHR. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Gabriel, Trip (April 24, 2025). "Leonard Zeskind, Who Foresaw the Rise of White Nationalism, Dies at 75". The New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d Murphy, Brian (April 25, 2025). "Leonard Zeskind, who tracked political rise of white nationalism, dies at 75". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  4. ^ Wilson, Jason (March 3, 2021). "US militia group draws members from military and police, website leak shows". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  5. ^ Lowe, Peggy (April 21, 2025). "Famed anti-racist expert Leonard Zeskind, who warned of fascism's rise, has died". KCUR. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  6. ^ "KC-based researcher will be honored". The Kansas City Star. June 14, 1992. p. B-2 – via newspapers.com.
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