On this re-run episode, I take a moment to really share my heart and soul about anti-Semitism. I also want to tackle the questions I have received about why more Black people are not fighting against it right now. I think I understand at least part of the answer. It's capacity. Let me unpack and explain it.
Shaun, I say this with love, as a white Jewish woman. For your Jewish friends that are saying "where are the black people fighting for Jews?" I would reject that question out right. First, there's a long history of Black and Jewish solidarity and activism in this country. Is it perfect? Nope. But there's a very long history of fighting for each other and a very real present of doing the same. Questions like the one that informed the end of this episode are harmful because they serve to put marginalized communities against each other. (Why not first ask "where are all my white Christian and Atheist co-workers and friends?") Your listeners, more than most people, likely agree that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. If your Jewish friends aren't seeing darker skin people at their demonstrations, maybe we (my fellow Jews) need to be doing more network building to make sure that when there are solidarity events that everyone is getting the message. While I greatly appreciate you taking the time to make this episode, I don't want you or anyone else to feel like you need to apologize or explain anything. I think it might be more helpful to "breakdown" some of the stereotypes that you started to talk about. While the black experience in America and in the world is unique, it shares a common thread with the Jewish diaspora (and the AAPI diaspora, Latinx diaspora, Middle Eastern diaspora, etc.), which is that it doesn't matter how long you've been in a place, how successful you are, how integrated you are, there's always a very real threat of being seen as "other." Politicians will leverage this for their own gain with disregard of the life and death consequences. At the same time, white Jews (and white people of all identities) need to understand how they benefit from white supremacy. Assuming your friends are white, they need to understand that asking your black friend, "why aren't there black people out here supporting my community?" is really problematic. I have a lot of privilege in this world so I usually pretty easily move about in protests, I can post whatever I want on social media, and I do not fear bodily harm will come to me. I do not fear being arrested. I know that if I am hurt, or if I am arrested, there will swift action taken to take care of me. That may not be true 100% of the time, but it's true the majority of the time. Most of my black, brown, and immigrant friends do not have those same assurances. Sorry, I don't ever critique these episodes but I'm really upset that some would bother to ask "why aren't there black folks here?" and that I'm in a unique position to say something about it. ... that's like asking why haven't any black people accepted/applied for jobs at my company? There's a myriad of possible reasons, and 100% of them are the responsibility of the non-black company leadership to address, not potential black recruits.
Shaun, I say this with love, as a white Jewish woman. For your Jewish friends that are saying "where are the black people fighting for Jews?" I would reject that question out right. First, there's a long history of Black and Jewish solidarity and activism in this country. Is it perfect? Nope. But there's a very long history of fighting for each other and a very real present of doing the same. Questions like the one that informed the end of this episode are harmful because they serve to put marginalized communities against each other. (Why not first ask "where are all my white Christian and Atheist co-workers and friends?") Your listeners, more than most people, likely agree that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. If your Jewish friends aren't seeing darker skin people at their demonstrations, maybe we (my fellow Jews) need to be doing more network building to make sure that when there are solidarity events that everyone is getting the message. While I greatly appreciate you taking the time to make this episode, I don't want you or anyone else to feel like you need to apologize or explain anything. I think it might be more helpful to "breakdown" some of the stereotypes that you started to talk about. While the black experience in America and in the world is unique, it shares a common thread with the Jewish diaspora (and the AAPI diaspora, Latinx diaspora, Middle Eastern diaspora, etc.), which is that it doesn't matter how long you've been in a place, how successful you are, how integrated you are, there's always a very real threat of being seen as "other." Politicians will leverage this for their own gain with disregard of the life and death consequences. At the same time, white Jews (and white people of all identities) need to understand how they benefit from white supremacy. Assuming your friends are white, they need to understand that asking your black friend, "why aren't there black people out here supporting my community?" is really problematic. I have a lot of privilege in this world so I usually pretty easily move about in protests, I can post whatever I want on social media, and I do not fear bodily harm will come to me. I do not fear being arrested. I know that if I am hurt, or if I am arrested, there will swift action taken to take care of me. That may not be true 100% of the time, but it's true the majority of the time. Most of my black, brown, and immigrant friends do not have those same assurances. Sorry, I don't ever critique these episodes but I'm really upset that some would bother to ask "why aren't there black folks here?" and that I'm in a unique position to say something about it. ... that's like asking why haven't any black people accepted/applied for jobs at my company? There's a myriad of possible reasons, and 100% of them are the responsibility of the non-black company leadership to address, not potential black recruits.