For me, becoming Jewish is the first time I've had the feeling of not being White. Hate groups consider Jews a "mud race" along with anyone else who shows difference or pigment. I hate the term "White" because it is arbitrary and pretty meaningless. How do you test for it?? People claim to be white, or seem white, or feel white, but it's really just a status, not a race. Most people are made up of all different races and creeds. I always thought Jews were white, but now I realize that racists don't think we are, and even some Jewish rhetoric distinguishes whites from Jews, so that conflicts with my definition of what it meant to be white. Is there really a concensus? No! I always thought Asians were white, but I've had Asians tell me they are not white. I've always considered Spanish people white, but Latino is a separate and proud category in L.A. Where I grew up, a person was seen as either white or black. I could say yellow and red, too, but that was always too fantastic a category and no one I ever met back then was Asian or Indian. The truth was, that most people I knew growing up were white AND black. The "black" people were not purely African, and the white people were not purely European. We were mixed and the "white" folks were in denial about it.
I've long studied and sympathized with Black American history. Finding information like this Farrakhan info is deeply troubling to me. It is such a blatant example of a powerful figure shirking leadership in favor of scapegoating and creating an enemy. It is the same psychology that white supremecist hate groups use--hatred and fear emboldens people to fight for your power for its own sake.
Another thing about this Farrakhan issue is that no one should expect Jews or anyone else to be perfect human beings. We are no more responsible for the slave trade than black kings or "white" Europeans. Simply put, the world's powerful people had a hand in it and Jews should admit our role (in whatever degree that was) as much as anyone else. If he's just asking us to take responsibility for it, we should, but what does specifically targeting Jews mean for our relationship today? That Blacks can't trust Jews and Jews can't trust Blacks? Where do we go from there?! How does America look then? Divided.
The other thing that gets lost in Farrakhan's rhetoric is the fragility of a Jewish state. Israel is the only Jewish state in the world--to be fair to the world's religions and peoples, I believe that the world has an interest in keeping a Jewish state stable and peaceful. Jews are a minority, just like black Americans. Racial wars and immigrant wars have long been part of our American history and only serve to hurt the poor and disenfranchised and make the rich richer (low wages aggravate hatred between groups) and poor communities become ghettos. Perhaps Jews and Blacks do not work to combine our domestic interests enough, but Farrakhan's words do not help us bridge that gap. He suggests that the powerful among us are all evil, and that doesn't work for either group! Besides, I'm as ready to knock extremist zionist policy wonkers out of powerful positions as the next person. Most Jews vote for Democratic issues and, based on our religious and philosophical beliefs, we want to share in helping communities--but just like other groups, there are definitely exceptions to this rule. Gee, if only Jews were the majority! But I don't think we'll be overtaking the Catholics anytime soon--maybe the Jews and the Nation of Islam should point out their dark history instead of building bridges...(I'm not serious).
So let's keep our eyes focused on the actions and policies of people, rather than the often obviously unpracticed religious backgrounds and arbitrary racial labels of groups, Mr. Farrakhan. The fights and struggles in this world are caused by competition for money and resources--races and religions are rather haphazardly draped around those two primary issues.
Farrakhan on Jewish Involvement in the Slave Trade
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