I cannot begin to express how much it saddens (and angers) me that white Jewish women, many of whom identify as progressive, are playing the role of spoilers of the @womensmarch. I'm not talking here about anyone specific, but about a general trend 1/ nytimes.com/2018/12/23/us/…
Antisemitism is rearing its head in this country, joining other virulent forms of bigotry-in particular anti-Black racism, islamophobia, and anti-immigrant forces --which are sadly ever present and systemic in our society. 2/
The leaders of the @womensmarch have--contrary to lots of irresponsible reporting--been incredibly responsive to Jewish women's concerns. Over and over, in ways large and small, they have incorporated concerns about antisemitism into the Women's March's work and principles. 3/
The only leader that i know personally, @lsarsour, has shown up over and over and over for Jewish communities, since long before the Women's March, and ever since. 4/
Her principles-of justice, fairness, human dignity, liberation & freedom for all-are abundantly clear through her acts & her words. She walks the walk more than just about anyone i know. It is truly remarkable especially given the vitriol she faces no matter what she does 5/
@TamikaDMallory and @msladyjustice1 are long-standing leaders in their own communities and are inspirations in others. They are in the positions they are in because they have been doing the hard, thankless, slogging ESSENTIAL work of organizing for many many years. 6/
To demand that the leaders of the Women's March continuously prove themselves on antisemitism is inflicting harm--to them personally, the movements they are leading, and to the possibility of truly intersectional organizing. 7/
And history has way too many examples of ways brave and outspoken leaders of color that have been torn down and destroyed 8/
None of us are perfect. In the Jewish community, I think its fair to say most if not all of us are probably in relationships with people who have expressed problematic racist views 9/
All of us in our own communities have complicated relationships to navigate. The level of demand and vitriol directed at Womens March leaders for behavior that we tolerate among ourselves should at the least give us pause 10/
we white Jews especially need to recognize that centering our own status as victims here is a power move, as well as a way to avoid self-reflection on our relative status in a white supremacist world 11/
that doesn't mean no critique allowed--but it does mean do it with compassion, as true allies and partners, with an assumption of good faith, with an awareness of our capacity to do harm, and an appreciation of the importance of a broad, strong, intersectional movement. END RANT
