|
|
December 25, 1998/ 6 Tevet 5759, Vol. 51, No. 14
Anti-Semitism still has stronghold in America
JONATHAN S. TOBIN
Connecticut Jewish Ledger
Like the stereotypical Jewish telegram which states "Start worrying, details to follow," the recent Anti-Defamation League survey of anti-Semitism in America is deeply troubling despite its lead statistics.
The ADL reports that the number of Americans polled who are free from anti-Semitic views has risen to 53 percent. That's up from 39 percent in 1992 when the last such poll was taken.
But the ADL survey's "index of anti-Semitic belief" also shows that one segment of American society where Jew-hatred is still strong is among African-Americans; 34 percent of black Americans fit into the ADL's category of most anti-Semitic. That is compared to only 9 percent of the general population.
The anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist attitudes expressed in the past by Jesse Jackson, the rise of the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan, as well as the prominence of other Jew-haters such as Khalid Muhammad and Leonard Jeffries have all pointed in the same direction. Though the majority of African-Americans do not support their ideas, the Farrakhans are not treated as members of the lunatic fringe. Instead, they are feted as leaders of that community not only by blacks themselves but by the rest of America. Witness the fact that Farrakhan is accorded the status of national celebrity, worthy of appearances on programs such as "Meet the Press."
If we needed any further proof of this trend, there was also the reaction to the recent death of another prominent African-American hater: Kwame Toure, a.k.a. Stokley Carmichael. Toure, who died in Guinea, West Africa, was lauded around the country as a "seminal" thinker and black leader. Temple University Professor Thaddeus P. Mathis wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer that "the life of Kwame Toure provides a standard by which to measure leadership ... the clarity of his vision for a better America and his principled and dedicated leadership live on as criteria by which leaders over the ages can be judged."
In reality, Toure set the standard for a generation of anti-Semitic rap. The familiar litany included the following canards: that Jews controlled the African slave trade; that Jewish control of Hollywood had lent itself to the degradation of blacks; that Israel was a racist nation oppressing people of color; that American Jews subjugated and exploited African-Americans in America's inner cities.
That this awful stuff echoes the worst propaganda of 19th and early 20th century European anti-Semites (who ironically also hated blacks) makes it all numbingly familiar. But what other studies have shown is that this sort of thinking is more prominent among educated African-Americans. They are a minority, but a significant one.
What do we do about it? The ADL's Abe Foxman has rightly called for a more "vigorous effort" to combat this virus of anti-Semitism. He's right and we have a solid base of the overwhelming majority Jews who are not racist and blacks who are not anti-Semitic to build on. What we don't need is a chorus of American Jews crying ingratitude because of Jewish support for civil rights in the past. Blacks don't owe Jews anything. While a larger percentage of Jews stood up for civil rights than most Americans, most were still silent. But by the same token, Jews owe blacks no apologies for slavery or anything else.
What we need is a fresh start and honesty. And also, perhaps a lowering of expectations. But so long as Jew-haters such as Kwame Toure and Louis Farrakhan are accorded a place of honor by African-American intellectuals, the future of dialogue on those terms is bleak.
Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger in West Hartford.
|
