A leader within the Black Lives Matter movement who once accused Taylor Swift fans of being “slightly racist” has found herself embroiled in controversy once again — slamming a new California bill meant to prevent antisemitism in schools in front of her Cal State classroom.
Prof. Melina Abdullah — who was teaching a class on Race, Activism, and Emotions — posted the video to YouTube in September where she called the bill “terrible” and told her students “these fools don’t even like Jewish people.”
AB 715, signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in October, will take effect in January 2026 and creates an Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator within the Office of Civil Rights to combat antisemitism in K-12 public schools.
In the video, Abdullah claims the bill has another purpose, to silence pro-Palestinian activism and criminalize teaching that criticizes Israel.
“The kinds of people who are doing this, they are the antisemites. They could give a damn about antisemitism,” she said. “Donald Trump doesn’t care about antisemitism. He is an antisemite.”
“They’re using this as an opening so that teaching truth in the classroom becomes something that’s criminalized,” Abdullah said in the video.
Abdullah describes this as the latest effort by the Trump administration to crack down on student protests. The bill in question is a California state law, not a federal law.
Melina Abdullah is a professor at California State University in the Pan-African Studies department. YouTube/AMCHA Initiative
Melina Abdullah is then co-founder and longtime leader of Black Lives Matter in Los Angeles. AFP via Getty ImagesAbdullah adds that all her Jewish friends are against AB 715 and “they’re opposed to the war in Gaza,” in the video she says, ” and you know they’re opposed really— to Israel and the genocide that they’re carrying out.”
She goes on to say that the AB 715 bill was written by “two Zionists” that are funded by pro-Israel organizations.
“These fools don’t even like Jewish people. Have you ever heard of an old, white South Carolinian talking about how much they love Jewish people? No. But in addition to the American flag, they got the damn Israeli flag,” she said. “You’re supposed to not be working for Israel,” Abdullah states.
Abdullah went on to encouraged her students to lobby Gov. Newsom to veto the bill before he signed it into law back in October.
Abdullah urged her students to protest the AB 715 bill in California. YouTube/AMCHA Initiative“Gavin Newsom wants to be president.” Abdullah explained. “Gavin Newsom’s an attractive guy. And I love how he’s trolling Trump, even though I don’t agree with most of his stuff,” she said.
“Elections are not free nor are they fair. He needs the support of unions. He needs the votes of people of color. So we can lobby Gavin Newsom. We can push Gavin Newsom to veto 715,” Abdullah encouraged her students.
“Professor Melina Abdullah’s use of her classroom to mobilize students against a modest bill to fight antisemitism in K-12 classrooms is not an isolated incident. It reflects a broader pattern in which activist-educators with direct influence over ethnic studies curricula throughout the state — including through their control of powerful faculty-union committees and national advocacy networks such as Black Lives Matter — are shaping instructional frameworks around highly politicized, exclusionary, and often overtly antisemitic doctrines that target Jewish students for harm,” said a statement from Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, Director of AMCHA, a non-profit formed to combat antisemitism.
Abdullah ran for vice president in 2024 on the ticket of Cornel West, another well known political activist and social critic.
The video of Abdullah’s class was posted to YouTube in September. YouTube/AMCHA InitiativeCalifornia State University said it was being investigated by the Trump administration in September for alleged antisemitism on campus, according to NBC News.
These are the latest controversial remarks from Abdullah, who in 2024 posted that it might be racist to be a Taylor Swift fan.
“Why do I feel like it’s slightly racist to be a Taylor Swift fan?” Melina Abdullah posted to X on Super Bowl Sunday.
Abdullah, who describes herself as a co-founder of the original Black Lives Matter movement and later launched her own group, Black Lives Matter Grassroots, has been embroiled in several legal battles in recent years.
She lost a legal fight with Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation and was ordered to pay roughly $100,000 in legal fees to BLM leader Shalomyah Bowers in 2024.
An attempt to reach Prof. Melina Abdullah and California State University was not immediately successful.
