Thread by @ewzucker

With some trepidation given how fraught the issue is, I’d like to offer a sociological take on the recent spate of seemingly violent attacks on “visibly identifiable” Jews, in & around NYC, committed disproportionately by black Americans.

<LONG THREAD>

First, 3 caveats:

1. While I know a lot about being out on American (including NY) streets in identifiably Jewish garb & have experienced anti-Jewish slurs etc (largely from whites but also from blacks) I can never know what it’s like to be black in America & the enormous challenges involved.

2. I've not done a serious literature review (this is twitter, ahem). Still, it's notable what's missing from Baldwin's classic & still very valuable take on black A-S (tinyurl.com/tv4um5l; h/t @tziondavidstarr) & other takes I've seen: violence & visibly identifiable Jews.

3. I'm setting aside ideology & attitudes. It's not that they're unimportant in general (see Baldwin & see also Gates; tinyurl.com/wvy9xbq & see the ADL surveys). But as @PopChassid suggests (tinyurl.com/w2857uq), A-S ideology doesn't seem important for these attacks.

With those 3 caveats in mind, let me offer a take that’s founded in drawing out sociological implications from 3 observations.

1. As @popchassid notes, these acts of verbal & physical violence generally seem spontaneous & opportunistic. A Jew appears & his/her mere presence is experienced as an affront.

This is consistent with my experience of public antisemitism over the years, typified by kids...

... (usually white) in passing cars who jeer & throw things at Jews as they walk to shul etc. These kids generally aren’t on the prowl for Jews— it's a gut response to an opportunity that presents itself.

This 1st observation is key for various reasons, including that...

... it tells us that these incidents should be considered members of a general class of public incidents in which one stranger attacks or disrupts another. Catcalling & harassment of women & LGTBQ+ are familiar cases. Another is road rage. Katz's analysis of road...

... rage (newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/Anger…) is instructive. Katz argues persuasively that road rage erupts from the sudden feeling that someone is treating you as if your existence is of no importance. The spontaneous emotional response is to thrust yourself into the other person's...

... world, to disrupt *their* life journey in such a way that they won't forget you exist & you need to be reckoned with.

Catcalling arguably has similar foundations-- a woman is perceived as being negligent by conducting herself in such a way that she "turns men on" even...

... while she implicitly denies this. Catcalling is an attempt to force a reckoning-- you can't just ignore me & the effect you're having on me; I will force my definition of the situation on you.

Suggestive evidence that it makes sense to think of these attacks as a kind...

of road rage may be found in the fact that the worst example of black-Jewish violence in American history was essentially an instance of road rage. I'm referring to the Crown Heights Riot of 1991: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Hei….

The riot, which led to the killing of an innocent hasid, erupted when a car in the Lubavitcher Rebbe's motorcade jumped a curb & tragically struck 2 black children, badly injuring a girl & killing her cousin. So there's a history of blacks in Brooklyn feeling-- rightly...

... or wrongly-- that their lives aren't valued by visibly identifiable Jews.

Ok, but this was 1 incident & was almost 30 years ago. Plus, it's one thing to be angry based on the perception that your children's lives are not being valued; it's quite another to be angry at...

... someone's mere presence. And indeed, these incidents are *very rare* (there are thousands & thousands of daily public interactions between blacks [and others] and Jews that go without incident). But why do *any* such awful incidents happen?

Let's turn to observations 2 & 3

2. The fact that Jews are now taking a risk by being visibly Jewish in public spaces* may be...

* NOTE: Over the past 50 years or so, it has generally become much safer to be visibly Jewish in the US than it was & it's still much safer here than pretty much any other country.

... even more important than it seems. In particular, a key difference between blacks & Jews (in America) is that while Jews can choose to "pass" as generically white (I sometimes appear as such & sometimes as identifiably Jewish), blacks do not have this choice!

Black identity, which has historically meant consignment to the lowest rung on the American social hierarchy (at least in urban America), is *inscribed on the body*; it's virtually impossible to shed & it's socially forbidden to assume (ask Rachel Dolezal). It's *imposed.*

3. The final observation is about deference, which as I said seems key to sparking road rage. In particular, a paradoxical aspect of black identity in America is that non-blacks publicly pay significant deference (however unwanted) to blacks, along 2 dimensions: fear & coolness.

That non-blacks exhibit fear of blacks need not be belabored here. This fear, especially of young black males, is visible in such aversive tactics as crossing the street to avoid them, averting gaze, etc. At a collective level, such fear was reflected in the massive waves...

... of "white flight" in many cities (neighborhoods & public schools), including northeastern cities & of course Brooklyn, over the 20th century. There's a lot to say about white flight & Jewish white flight in particular (a great book that explains why Jews tended to flee & ...

... Catholics would stay & "fight" for awhile is Gamm's Urban Exodus). Setting aside the reasons for white flight the key for now is that such evacuations represent fear-based deference to blacks by whites: we yield; now it's your neighborhood.

Then there's the coolness factor:

Black cultural expressions-- in music, dance, clothing, sports, etc-- set trends for the rest of America & even the world. There's again much to be said about why this is; but for now, it's worth noting that "coolness" implies a certain indifference to general pressures...

... for conformity & thus a freedom to lead fashion trends. (Note that systematic discrimination implies that the usual rewards for conformity haven't been available to blacks)

But how do observations 2 & 3 help shed light on these violent attacks?

In short, with their mere presence, visibly identifying Jews are effectively *choosing not to pay deference to black identity* in the two ways blacks generally receive deference in America: by yielding space/territory due to fear & by following their fashion leadership.

On the one hand, they are apparently not afraid. As other Jews left Crown Heights, Lubavitcher hasidim moved in & stayed (fyi Gamm's book explains why). Other hasidim similarly moved into Williamsburg (tensions there with Puerto Ricans) & more recently there's Jersey City.

On the other hand, by choosing culturally alien clothing & haircuts (& music and language, etc), they signal loud indifference to the American fashion system (this is obviously stronger for Jews who go beyond wearing a yarmulke to wearing the dress of 18th c Polish noblemen).

It might seem like a stretch to suggest that this disrespects blacks' cultural status. But do you recall this story from last year?
forward.com/fast-forward/4…

Ponder how many times the video was shared. It's not surprising really. This is a white child in America...

His parents could groom him like other white kids (to "pass"!) & so include him in the fashion system, of which blacks are considered leaders. But instead they *choose* to ignore that system entirely.

Again, what's a greater affront than to be ignored as if you don't exist?

This has been a much longer thread than anticipated & there's obviously much more one could say (read Baldwin & others!).

For anyone who's read this far, I hope I have provided a little insight as to why the mere presence of visibly-identifying Jews could be perceived...

... as an affront & thereby elicit (on rare-but-still-way-too-many occasions) symbolic & physical violence. And to the extent that such "presence" is more common in Brooklyn, this leads to more attacks.

But why has there been a spike recently?

It's very hard to say, but rising gentrification-- essentially a reversal of white flight & the fear-based deference it entailed (let alone the economic displacement!)-- seems key. Then why is it hasidim rather than hipsters being attacked? One factor may be the perception that

(hasidic) Jews are overrepresented among developers & landlords (cf Baldwin)--i.e., the vanguard of those who are lowering fear-based deference to blacks & causing them to lose hold on erstwhile black spaces.
And then there's coolness-based deference: Hipsters (& yuppies)...

...arguably defer to black cultural leadership in various ways, most generally by participating the larger American cultural matrix (not to mention the Democratic party). Visibly identifying Jews actively choose to ignore all that, thereby seeming to disrespect it.

To close, I'll add another caveat & say something about action implications.

Caveat: No one can know for sure what's behind these attacks. I'm just trying to provide a somewhat different sociological) perspective from what I've seen on a very difficult social problem. And...

... while it would ideally be great to test this theory against "data" (see @PopChassid again), it's very hard to to test social phenomena that are more about spontaneous features of public interaction than abiding beliefs & ideology that might enter into deliberate planning.

Implications: I wish I knew what would help solve this problem. I do have two concerns about how responses might make it worse. First, a lot of pressure being put on politicians to do something even though it's not clear what they can do. Perhaps they can help prevent...

... premeditated mass attacks like Jersey City and Monsey, but spontaneous/opportunistic road rage? The Law of Unintended Consequences implies there is danger when politicians are pressured to do something but no one really has a good solution. Second, I worry this can poison...

... black-Jewish relations. It's hard enough being black in America without being accused of believing or doing something awful you & no one you know would ever believe or do. Again, these are very rare events in the larger scheme of things. Moreover, pretty much everything...

... I've said about how visibly-identifying can be experienced by some blacks as an affront seems much more applicable to whites at various times & places.

Jews are understandably afraid lately & it's therefore important to try...

& understand what's going on, it's also very important not to overreact via half-baked policy or overheated discourse. Hopefully, this thread helped a little bit in this regard. If not, please have patience with me. I hope you have a peaceful Shabbat/weekend either way.