I am a white guy. In doing GOTV for Hilary some Trump guy harrassed me for a long-time calling me a “Libtard” etc. He really hated me. What was this all about? I think it is Anti-semitism and we need to talk about it.
The big story seems to be about the role of racism and sexism in the election. While racism and sexism were Yuge the role of antisemitism keeps getting pushed down and overlooked. This is all despite the fact that Trump’s final commercial was about taking on the global elite — who mostly happened to be Jewish. When Alex Jones defends himself against anti-semitism his response is to say “look at who is in power.” Turns out the ones he points to are Jews.
But to fully get at the role of anti-semitism in this election we need to expand the idea of who is Jewish.
I am a life long NYer. I grew up around a lot of Jews. I have been called an honorary Jew more than once. Jews rock. But I am not Jewish. I do however do many things that would qualify me as a Jew in Alex Jones’ eyes because I live in NYC, vote Democrat, manage people and have a master’s degree. In fact, I could have probably just stopped at NY’er to qualify as a Jew in his mind.
I am writing this because another diary on Daily Kos refers to Garrison Keillor’s editorial in the Washington Post the involves this gem:
www.washingtonpost.com/...
It was pleasure enough for them just to know that they were driving us wild with dismay — by “us,” I mean librarians, children’s authors, yoga practitioners, Unitarians, bird-watchers, people who make their own pasta, opera-goers, the grammar police, people who keep books on their shelves, that bunch.
In my humble opinion, this desire to stick it to a middle tier group of people is anti-semitism - whether or not those people are Jewish. And the role of this expanded definition of “Jews” is often to take that middle role and be the scapegoat when the system needs someone to blame.
Take for instance the role of Hakka Chinese. They are sometimes known as the “Jews of Asia”. I am really going out of my comfort zone here but their plight seems similar to Jews in America:
My wife who is Hakka always says that Hakka are the “Jews of China” because they are highly educated, hardworking, very disciplined, retained their ancient language and had to stick together in southern China in their trouble while facing discrimination and attack.
ca.answers.yahoo.com/...
The Hakka immigrants in turn felt ostracized by the natives, who were held together by strong kinship, territory and community ties. Pejorative ethnic labeling, the taunting of Hakka women by native men, the lack of permanent tenancy rights for Hakka people, and competition for water and other resources, had kept ethnic tensions high. But as long as the economy flourished over the centuries, the social tensions could be controlled. An economic downturn in the nineteenth century set the stage for political conflict. - See more at: henrymakow.com/...
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It seems to me that the role of “Jews” in the our system is to look like the people in charge. They are supposed to be the middle managers, store owners and even the company executives. “Jews” are meant to be the face the working people see when they go for a job or a loan. The “Jews” are the ones who pull the levers.
Of course...the important thing is that the “Jews” don’t control or define the levers. The real power lies elsewhere. It lies in the hands of the ultra-rich. And when things get tough they ultra-rich can escape by blaming “Jews.” Even if they are simply the librarians the Keillor mentions.
That is the mechanical structure of anti-semitism. The fact that actual Jews aren’t needed is important. This role can be played by NPR listeners, Unitarians,Teachers and Christian office workers. And sometimes those in the middle role actually do stupid and selfish things that get workers angry. Maybe they are cheap at times or they are arrogant because of their slightly higher status. Maybe they are insecure and take it out on others. These small slights are what the worker sees. When the system needs someone to blame it is easy for the worker to get angry at the guy who acts like he is a little better than him. It is an ugly mess.
As an example, I would say that all the talk about “racist trump supporters” by middle class liberal white people plays into this trap. If you are a middle class white person, you should first remember that you too are racist and you have benefited greatly from racism. Just because you are a Yoga teacher doesn’t mean you didn’t get all the subliminal racism going around. It sticks in your head. So as a white NYC liberal myself, I need to be careful about who I call racist and stupid. If I do talk about racism I have to try hard to talk about it as something I struggle with as well. It doesn’t matter that my partner is black or that I donated to BLM. I need to approach the issue with humility. Otherwise I will stir up trouble (and more Trump voters). Anti-semitism is an under valued get-out-the-vote tool. Let’s be aware of it, call it out, fight it and not play into their trap.
(I know this is messy and tricky topic so I apologize in advance my any mistakes. I just know that this needs to be talked about. Thanks!)