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A key problem in Lab's anti-Semitism debate is the emphasis on a certain kind of person ("the anti-Semite", "the racist"), as something an individual "is" or "is not", rather than on a phenomenon ("anti-Semitism", "racism"), to which the most well-intentioned might fall prey. 1/4
2. Most people are familiar with "unconscious bias" & "institutional racism", malign forces that can infect people or organisations that have no malign intent. But too many still start from the position "I am not a racist/anti-Semite so I cannot be guilty of racism/anti-Semitism"
3. If you start from the assumption that you are the good guys in politics, it's hard to believe you might be at fault. But if we've learned anything from the history of racism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of prejudice, it's that they are not only promulgated by bad people.
4. The key question for the leadership is not "Is Corbyn an anti-Semite?" - which it will always regard as an attack to be repelled - but "Why have anti-Semitic tropes & patterns of speech become so widespread on the Left? How have they been fostered? What role have we played?"
I wrote about this here last August. How little has changed since then: gladstonediaries.blogspot.com/2018/08/labour…
