The Atlantic - Latest Comments in Jewish Racism

Re: Jewish Racism

Ampersand — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:29:16 -0000

Barry, your right about the antisemitism deal, but I would add one caveat--blacks are also disproportionately poorer, and more likely to be religious, and more likely to be Southerners.

You're obviously right about this. It's a shame that the ADL didn't do a more sophisticated parsing of their data; I suspect if they did, race would not be found to be a significant factor after accounting for other associations.

Re: Jewish Racism

RhondaCoca — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:20:30 -0000

So some Jews feel that "Rev.Wright called for the elimination of the Jewish race". I just saw it on CNN. What kind of bizarre distortion is that?

Obama is speaking to the Jewish community because he has to prove himself as he has to do to every single constituency while Hillary and Bill can court Billy Graham who famously made anti-Semitic comments.

Thanks for that:

D-White, thank you for the article,

"Black Pathology Biz" is exactly correct.

Re: Jewish Racism

Wilfred — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:47:52 -0000

Malcolm X had several interesting things to say about Black/Jewish relationships - I believe they influenced Reed's comments. Without a doubt the Black Muslims were familiar with the case of Sufi Abdul Hamid and his persecution by the Jewish newspapers The Day and the Bulletin after the 1935 Harlem Riots. The Black modernist icon Claude McKay wrote an essay on Hamid and those events which is quite informative.

The Black Muslim version of even their own history is rarely considered.

Re: Jewish Racism

seth — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:59:55 -0000

For a deeper discussion of the issue of Jews as "white," let me recommend "The Colors of Jews: Racial Politics and Radical Diasporism" by Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz:

http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=41695

Re: Jewish Racism

dwhite10701 — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:28:58 -0000

Black antisemitism is ultimately about white antisemitism. One of the ways this country ducks a hard look at its own shortcomings is by racializing them. Thus vices which we all share, are basically only addressed when black people demonstrate them.

Ishmael Reed broke this down ages ago, calling it the Black Pathology Biz.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/19891120/19891120reed

Re: Jewish Racism

RhondaCoca — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:15:58 -0000

In Brooklyn, the black and Jewish neighborhoods were they intersect is hostile. The police are rough and unfair to black residents in favor of the Jewish residents whom they have formed an alliance with. This has created tension between the Jewish community and blacks in Brooklyn.

Some blacks also think that Jews have power therefor some may look at them as the oppressors.

Some sympathize with the Palestinians

I have noticed these kinds of issues that often may arise. I have not witnessed anything outside of one of theses paradigms.

However I doubt that blacks are the most anti-semitic.

Here's my thing:

Many people from many notable blacks to people like Rendell and Lieberman have had associations or praised Farrakhan. With all the people who endorsed Obama from the black community, you can find a just as direct relationship between Obama and Farrakhan.

Also, Farrakhan has cooled off with much of his rhetoric in last several years. Many told me that he was not speaking about all of Judaism but instead Zionism.

Pat Buchanan and his ilk are on the books making anti-semitic and racist comments yet they are on television. Yet they are widely praised. Thats hypocrisy.

Re: Jewish Racism

Ta-Nehisi Coates — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:05:05 -0000

Barry, your right about the antisemitism deal, but I would add one caveat--blacks are also disproportionately poorer, and more likely to be religious, and more likely to be Southerners. In other words, I'd be much more interested in, say, a comparison between black folks in Georgia and white folks in Georgia of the same economic stratum. It does no good to compare black people here in Harlem to, say, white people on the upper East Side. It's interesting that the only other group that's more antisemitic is the another group that's highly religious and just making its way into the mainstream. That's not to excuse anything, of course.

Re: Jewish Racism

Annie — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:44:32 -0000

I'd also posit that old people, in general, are more racist. Many older Jews also vote primarily on the "Israel issue" where both McCain and Clinton are generally viewed as a better choice.

It seems silly to say that Obama has a Jewish issue just because some Jews would prefer to vote for a Republican over him.

Re: Jewish Racism

Ampersand — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:34:01 -0000

I agree with nearly all of this post. But I do have two nit-picks:

1) 60% of the Jewish vote is lousy for a Democrat; both Gore and Kerry did much better. I think that racism among a minority of Jews, especially elderly Jews, may well account for part of that drop in Jewish support between Kerry and Obama.

2) I agree with you that the media is too quick -- even eager -- to report on anti-Semitism among Blacks (even when it's not there), while giving white anti-Semitism a relative pass. That Farrakhan has been an issue this election proves that.

At the same time, however, the end of your post could be read (or misread?) as implying that Black Americans, as a group, are no more anti-Semitic than Americans in general. Unfortunately, this may not be true. Survey data ( http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASUS_12/4109_12.asp ) shows that although most Blacks aren't anti-Semitic, Blacks are significantly more likely to be anti-Semitic than other Americans are (except for first-generation Latino immigrants).