for the millionth time [perhaps maybe the 1st on twitter], im not a leftist. im not a liberal. im a jew and that identity/mission transcends the subjective and amorphous political identities that do exist, have existed, or will ever exist.
b/c there are times when torah/halacha is liberal. or conservative. or socialist. or democratic. or communist. or monarchist.
and to lock oneself into a political identity is to inherently put one's politics on a collision course with one's judaism
so no, im not on any particular "side". i align with ppl most*closely* aligned with what the jewish mission is at any given election cycle. the only reason im a registered democrat is bc i discovered that independents cant vote in primaries.
and at that time, the answer was democrats.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Folk upset I'm not going to shul this week: it's a testament to the ignorance of mainstream Judaism on the work/labor/stress shul entails for JoCs and it shows, in a world where 26% of American Jews experience a.s. but 80% of JoCs experience discrimination in *Jewish spaces*. 1/x
Clearly youve never shown up as the "other" in shul on a literal weekly basis. 2/x
Clearly you weren't a PoC having to either directly counter or endure debates/snide remarks of "Well if they respected the officer/Why is everything about race/Why are blks so antisemitic" during George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, or literally any instance of police brutality 3/x
Alright. So Jamie Foxx. By this point you've prolly seen his post and apology, and here we are in yet another "black antisemitism crisis" moment. 1/x
In one corner we have #BlackTwitter:
"This is just an *obvious* lack of experience with black culture. The black community know what he's saying, but here's these YT ppl thinking it’s about them or talking about the Jews...🙄"
Which, yeah. And no. 2/x
In the other corner, #JTwitter:
"This is a *wildly* antisemitic statement evoking centuries of violence against Jews!"
Which, no. Also, yep. 3/x
Yo, Hebrew-Israelites, I’m really happy for you, and imma let you finish, but Milli Vanilla had one of the best co-opt acts of all time! Of all time!
But seriously, let’s get ahead of this right tf now: 1/x
The Black Jewish community and the Hebrew-Israelite community are not the same thing.
We do not share a community.
We do not share the same struggle.
We do not fight the same battle for legitimacy. 2/x
Black Jews come in secular, Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, et al. 3/x
No, I didn't watch SNL. More accurately I only watched the cold open & Weekend Update. But having seen the monologue clips shared on Twitter (refusing to give YouTube the views) 2 things are apparent: 1-Dave Chappelle is still a genius 2-He definitely emboldened antisemitism 1/x
His monologue is a masterclass in rib-nudging eyewinking plausible deniability that mixes in just enough real commentary that you almost dont realize that he never denounces kanye/kyrie for their views but for their big mouths 2/x
He took a very *real* kernel of fact "Ferguson is full of black ppl, but they dont run anything" & instead of continuing the comparison with "Hollywood is full Jews but they dont control it" he stops at "Hollywood is full of Jews" and it isn't "crazy" to think they control it 3/x
[Looks up from reading “The Souls of Black Folk” while sitting on the trunk of your cousin’s car you went to “take a walk with” at the cookout]
Oh, hi. Didn't notice you come in. Antisemitism is really not the look, and imma need some of you to grow the fuck up fam. A thread:1/x
Firstly, let’s get all the “you’re being victim blame-y” nonsense out of the way that plagued my last thread: Multiple things can be true at the same time, and multiple things can be wrong at the same time, and explaining a mechanism does not mean absolving accountability. 2/x
Secondly, this is not a Kyrie Irving-specific critique but a general critique of antisemitism when espoused by blk ppl. 3/x
[Looks up from reading "The Price of Whiteness" while a nearby fireplace competes with a Sam Cooke record crackling in the distance]
Oh, hi. Didn't notice you come in. The American Jewish response to POC antisemitism fucking sucks & will continue to until things change. A thread:
First, let's start off with a quote from James Baldwin's "Negros Are Anti-Semitic Because They're Anti-White" essay, particularly this line:
"He has absolutely no relevance in this context as a Jew. His only relevance is that he is white and values his color and uses it.He is singled out by Negroes not because he acts differently from other white men, but because he doesn't."