Yet again in America there is a conflict of opinions inside both communities of Black Americans and Jewish Americans and it is not driven by international global politics but domestic issues and concerns. The usual suspects ( Louis Farrakhan, Al Sharpton, and others) are not the source of discontent this time between Blacks and Jews. There is now a new group of Black targets( YE , Chappelle, Irving and others under attack)
The stage this time is anchored in America and intersects, celebrity, media platforms and arises out of the sins of antisemitism , bigotry, contempt and finally the unspoken distrust between our communities that has gone public.
Something amiss and not Kosher in the saga of Kanye West aka YE, he deservingly has attracted intense criticism and condemnation for his series of antisemitic behaviors and comments Yet for many in Black America it has reached unwarranted altitude and anger. Which now has both diasporas in conflict.
YE’s behavior has made him a target for attacks on his sanity and his empire. There are daily global demands which have crippled and caused him to lose his lucrative and profitable endorsements and his celebrity cachet as well created a net which has contaminated other Black celebrities and personalities out of their reactions and associations with YE.
Without question this is cancel culture in full bloom, BUT is it excessive and an example of extreme overkill? Those seeking to assist YE during his meltdown also face the wrath of his attackers for daring to intervene and render concern and compassion for YE. This has to end now!!!
Here is where I have no problem inviting myself into this saga and I have no reservations inserting race into this explosive and fragile terrain. There are far too many in the Jewish Diaspora that is engaged in outrageous stereotyping and vile generalizations about Black Americans and our attitudes towards Jewish Americans.Far too many Jewish Pundits, Web sites, and Organizations have waged a collective cultural insurgency against many in Black America who have rejected narratives that We are a community that endorses Antisemitism!
YE is not a Nazi nor a serial killer nor the worse human being on the planet. There is truth to the reality that when a Black person including a celebrity goes dark and off the rails there is an extreme overreaction and excessive exaggeration that feels like a Hi Tech Lynching.
Black Americans and others can’t stand silent here and allow spectacle of Anti-Blackness to erase our agency. Black Americans cannot ever tolerate efforts by anyone or collective or interest to intimidate us into submission and even erasure. We have to speak up not just for YE but for those in our community that go dark and engage in hateful acts not only as a result of some underlying health issues but because some individuals are human and human beings are imperfect human beings…
I am not recommending nor advising anyone to go purchase YE’s music or sign some ubiquitous internet petition nor search for similar racist comments by Jewish celebrities and personalities toward Black Americans.
There is a place here for compassion certainly not acceptance nor tolerance of hate and evil .. Compassion is an act of humanity it does not fit every twisted and vile saga but it has a place in civilization and humanity , it does not a erase hate, bigotry nor is it an excuse, confession or retreat from hate and in this situation Antisemitism.
It is frankly extremely Disappointing observing Black Leaders unwilling to challenge those in America‘s Jewish Leadership that seek to assert that Black Americans are Antisemitic and enablers of hate towards Jewish Americans , it is equally Disappointing observing the ease of so many in Jewish venues that rush to condemn Black Americans for not genuflecting to demands that every single Black American must react to the Antisemitism of a few in our community
The facts are unequivocal Black Americans in America have confronted unprecedented and unparalleled experiences of inhumanity in America infinitely more than Jews have in America’s history as a nation . We did not become White in America when our souls entered the land of America’s indigenous peoples. We have never organized pogroms against Jewish Americans. We have and will continue to object to racist Jewish Americans that leveraged their‘Whiteness’ to engage in discrimination, bigotry and contempt for us because we are not White In America
There was a Black Holocaust in America that altered our trajectory as a people, a culture and our very existence and its footprints are still alive and present In America , Our Blackness and our Black agency is not subject to any reservations, permission, conditions by anyone, any institution, government or religious, ethnic, nationality or racial collective anywhere on Earth
To those seeking to silence, censor, direct and instruct us to how act and react it is never going to happen in anywhere, anytime on the Earth.
Black Americans and Jewish Americans can’t become enemies when both our communities are in peril and targets at risk with the resurgence of White Supremacy and White Christian nationalism intensifying in America… Being White in America will not be a safe harbor for Jewish Americans in an America that becomes saturated with White Supremacy and all of its derivatives.
This is a difficult moment in America not just for our communities but for others that encounter the worst of America. When there is an intersectional battle between Black and Jewish Americans it diminishes both of our existence in America . Dissent and Alternative perspectives and opinions can never to silenced and censored.Curated attempts to undermine speech must be rejected and condemned. Those seeking to demonize Black voices on topics like Antisemitism and Anti Blackness should be rejected wherever it surfaces anywhere in America.
Black Lives have always mattered and so do Jewish lives in America . I am convinced both of our communities can weather our differences and be there for each other when it matters.
