Two things on #antisemitism that I haven’t seen mentioned around the #Kanye discussion that are important.
A 🧵on why antisemitism, at times, may be taken less seriously today by some in America, helping it spread further/faster, creating more fear for Jews & risk for all.
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A 🧵on why antisemitism, at times, may be taken less seriously today by some in America, helping it spread further/faster, creating more fear for Jews & risk for all.
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1st: In the US (& the west broadly), Jews are mostly (inaccurately) perceived as a white religious group. This reduces our identity significantly in order to fit into western identity constructs & ultimately maps Jewish identity onto the contours of America’s racial divide.
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Jewish identity is far more complex than religion & includes many (socially constructed) racial identities. One can be an atheist & a Jew. We’ve identified as part of a people, or an ethnic group w/ a “national” identity, for 1000s of years longer than organized religion.
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While many Jews are white-presenting, & therefore can benefit from the privileges associated with whiteness, many Jews aren’t. Beyond erasing many Jews, the idea of Jews as white is a recent development & Judaism is nearly 6,000 years old.
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Crucially, white supremacists don’t believe Jews are white, but rather blame us for undermining the white race. Jews in Europe historically were not viewed/defined as white. The Germans went so far as to classify Jews as part of a different (semitic) race (hence antisemitic).
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But, since we’re perceived as white (privileged), antisemitism can get minimized relative to other bigotry (even if unintentionally) given the different, urgent, systemic challenges faced by other marginalized groups in America, especially people of color.
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2nd: In the US (& the west), our conception of systems of power/oppression reflect group status in society as relatively fixed (especially in the short run).
Centuries of structural white supremacy are a solid data point for that perception.
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Centuries of structural white supremacy are a solid data point for that perception.
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However, Jews & antisemitism predate America (& the modern western world) by 1000s of years & antisemitism doesn’t follow the same pattern that has locked in centuries of racial power/oppression in America.
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As antisemitism spreads from the fringes to the mainstream (happening in America btw), the status/safety of Jews can/has changed fast. That’s true regardless of the skin color or economic status of some Jews in a society. It’s tempting to look at Jews in America & assume…
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…that we are safe/secure. But Jewish life in modern America is the exception to the rule of Jewish life for millennia. We’ve gone from safe to systemically & violently attacked/oppressed rapidly in era after era, society after society, continent after continent.
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All that’s needed is a toxic brew of societal turmoil, unchecked antisemitic lies, & a demagogue using scapegoats to secure power. Bc antisemitism is so old, Jews so few, & antisemitic ideas so familiar & accepted, antisemitism has been a frequent, effective, rapid weapon.
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Put the 1st & 2nd issues together & you have a recipe for people to constantly dismiss antisemitism as less serious/urgent, which enables the spread & normalization of antisemitism into the mainstream, & increases the risk to Jews (& others) as a consequence.
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A few other quick notes:
1.Obviously, these are just two factors of a complex problem in America with antisemitism.
2.Don’t cancel people. Challenge harmful ideas.
3.Mental illness, stress makes it easier to consume & spread bigotry.
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1.Obviously, these are just two factors of a complex problem in America with antisemitism.
2.Don’t cancel people. Challenge harmful ideas.
3.Mental illness, stress makes it easier to consume & spread bigotry.
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4. The deep irony of all this is that Kanye is literally pushing ideas embraced/pushed by white supremacists.
5. As @BulldogShadow has beautifully outlined, antisemitism is fuel for modern white supremacist movements in America.
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5. As @BulldogShadow has beautifully outlined, antisemitism is fuel for modern white supremacist movements in America.
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6. Since antisemitism is built on conspiracy theories, where the lies spread, truth is destroyed. Where truth is destroyed, democracy can’t survive. Without democracy, civil rights can’t sustain. Thus, all marginalized groups are threatened by the spread of antisemitism.
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7. Yes, white-presenting Jews can also act in ways that uphold/perpetuate white supremacy, even if unknowingly at times.
8. Our community has a ton of work to do to create a truly inclusive community & needs to continue working to challenge anti-Black racism…
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8. Our community has a ton of work to do to create a truly inclusive community & needs to continue working to challenge anti-Black racism…
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…& all other forms of bigotry, including inside our own community.
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END
Correction to the 4th tweet: Judaism isn’t 6k years old. I was thinking about the Jewish calendar at 5783 & not when Judaism begins. Judaism dates back nearly 4K years. But what’s a few thousand years between friends, @stevesheffey?
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