Antisemitism is at an all-time high across the U.S. following the deeply disturbing and blatantly antisemitic remarks marks made publicly by Kanye West. On Saturday, Oct. 8, West tweeted that he wants to go, “death con 3 [sic] On JEWISH PEOPLE” and later commented in an interview with Drink Champs that he can say anti-Semitic things and Adidias can’t drop him. In the past, West has repped his own “White Lives Matter” merch and made racist comments about the black community. Since then, the internet has reiterated that West is suffering from mental illness and shouldn’t be regarded as a serious threat. This lack of alarm has been detrimental to the Jewish community, which already receives very little activism. West is not merely ‘misunderstood,’ or in any way valid in his thinking. Let’s refocus our attention to the deeper issue of antisemitism in America.
The term “Jewish” doesn’t only refer to a religion. People who consider themselves Jewish may be ethnically Jewish, practice the religion of Judaism, or identify with both aspects of the culture. Jews have historically faced persecution not only during the Holocaust, in which 12 million of us were murdered, but leading all the way back to biblical times and the middle ages. Jewish people have repeatedly been used as ‘scapegoats’ and blamed for situations such as the plague, Germany’s loss of WW1, and most recently – COVID-19. Antisemitic acts are carried out every single day, from bombings of Jewish-owned business to swastikas drawn on public property. Jewish people make up two percent of the U.S. population and yet are the target of roughly 58 percent of religiously motivated crime.
As a Jewish-American woman, it is very disheartening to feel like I’m the only person standing up for my community. It is frustrating to be in an era where all of my friends post activism on their Instagram stories and to not once see a tragedy within the Jewish community be shared. Whenever I post something bringing awareness to antisemitism, nobody who sees it reposts it.
I often wonder why Jewish people are so easily forgotten in activism. Part of me thinks that people avoid advocating for the Jewish community because of the stereotype that “all Jewish people are white,” and while many people who identify as Jewish are white and have white privilege, Jewish people come in all colors and are an incredibly diverse community. It is important that as a society, we realize that all Jewish people face antisemitism, and that those who are POC have even more issues to tackle on a daily basis. It is more important than ever that we speak out against antisemitism due to the rapid decline in Holocaust survivors. Within the next few years they will all be gone and there will be no one else to tell our story first-hand. With the rise in antisemitism, it is scary to think of a world where we must convince people that the Holocaust happened.
While you might not take Kanye West seriously, his words and actions have a huge impact. On Oct. 22 in Los Angeles, a white supremacist group hung banners over a major freeway, one reading, “Kanye was right about the Jews.” West’s initial antisemitic tweet from Oct. 8 had received thousands of likes before it was taken down. It is terrifying to think that the millions of people who support Kanye might now support the messages he is portraying. As a society, it is important that we do not turn the other cheek and brush his actions off as being insignificant. Instead of letting this situation give more attention to Kanye West, let’s give more attention to our Jewish friends. Rather than questioning his motives, we need to question why antisemitism exists in the first place.