NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/10239

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Subject: Z: Keeping A Legacy of Shared Struggle (bell hooks)
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Date: 22 Jan 93 04:02:00 GMT
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    "The failure of blacks and white Jews to engage in critical
    dialogue that does not reflect prevailing racist hierarchy has
    meant that it is unclear in what context either group can be
    critical of the other without being labeled racist or
    anti-Semitic.
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               Submitted by <anonymous>
        [Typed by Philip Feeley <[e-mail]>]
=====================================================================
K E E P I N G   A   L E G A C Y   O F   S H A R E D   S T R U G G L E
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       by Bell Hooks (Z Magazine (see bottom) Sept. '92) p. 23
=====================================================================

Recently teaching Women's Studies courses for two months
at a European university, engaging in intense discussions about race
and racism, I found myself speaking much more about anti-
Semitism than I ever did in the United States.  Emphasizing
connections between the global development of anti-Semitism and
anti-black racism, I often referred to Ronald Sanders Book *Lost
Tribes an promised Lands:  The Origins of American Racism*.
Within the European context to talk of white supremacy one must
necessarily look at the history of Jews (white and non-white in the
world) and make sense of that history in relationship to the
development of racist thinking about black people.  These
discussions led me to reflect often on the growing antagonism
between white Jewish people and black folks in the United States.
[There are black Jews either by birth or conversion.  To respect
their culture and faith throughout this essay when I am speaking
about white Jews that is the term I will use.  Usually folks refer
solely to the experiences of white Jews (i.e. when scholars and
writers talk about the relationship between blacks and Jews).]
I remember heated arguments in classrooms at Oberlin when
black students would talk about White people and white culture and
Jewish students would speak out and insist that they not be
included in this category of whiteness.  What these discussions
always revealed was that we lacked a complex language to talk
about white Jewish identity in the United States and its relationship
to blackness and black identity.  It was hard and painful for some
Jewish students to acknowledge that in a white supremacist society
like the United States where race/ethnicity is often defined solely by
skin color, the fact that whiteness can subsume allegiance to Jewish
identity, religion etc. and overdetermine ones actions in daily life, or
how one is treated.  To some extent these students believe so
deeply in the notion of democracy and individual rights that they are
convinced that if they choose not to identify as "white" no one will
see them that way.  Their fierce denial of any allegiance or
participation in constructions of whiteness seemed to evoke an
equally fierce desire on the part of black students to insist that not
only was the fact of whiteness more obvious than Jewishness, but
that it was the denial of this reality that made it possible for Jewish
students to be complicit with racism and remain unaware of the
nature of that participation.  When such conflicts arise it is always
useful to send students to read *Yours in the Struggle:  Three
Feminist Perspectives on Anti-Semitism and Racism*, especially the
sections by Elly Bulkin.

In her section Bulkin asserts that she assumes that "all non-
Jews, even those without institutional power, have internalized the
norm of anti-Semitism in this culture and are capable of being anti-
Semitic, whether through hostility or ignorance."  Agreeing with
that assumption, I have always deemed it significant that Bulkin
chose to highlight that we are all capable of anti-Semitic thought
and action, rather than to assert as some folks do, that wee are all
"naturally" anti-Semitic because we are born into an anti-Semitic
culture.  By focusing on our "capability," she reminds us that we
are able to act in ways that fundamentally resist and oppose anti-
Semitism.  Growing up in the segregated South the fundamental
lesson that I was taught via the black Baptist church was that Jews
all over the world had suffered exploitation and oppression, that we
identified with them and took their struggle to be our own because
of shared experience.  Most importantly, we were taught that anti-
Semitism and anti-black racism were fundamentally connected.
One could not be raised in hard-core Klan country and not be aware
of this connection.  It was deeply embedded in our consciousness as
southern blacks that we had to oppose anti-Semitism--always.
Given these teachings, we knew as children that white Jews
born and raised in the South often suffered at the hands of white
supremacists.  We also knew that in high school it bolstered the
image of the "Jew" i n the eyes of white supremacists when Jewish
students would make a point of acting in a racist way towards black
folks.  Like us, many of these young Jews had been taught in the
context of home and religious experience to identify with the
oppressed, and therefore to recognize their connections with black
folks.  So early on, we all experienced contradictions in how ewe
thought and how we behaved.  Jewish white students who might be
the most racist in front of other southern white folks might in a
different context act in an non-racist manner.  When we "reported"
these contradictions in our segregated religious contexts, we were
taught that no matter the actions of individual Jews, we were called
by our faith and our destiny as a people to stand in solidarity with
them.

Perhaps, it was solely due to the backwoods provincial
nature of my region and upbringing, but it was not until I left the
South for college that I first heard black folks make anti-Semitic
remarks.  These were northern black folks who behaved and acted
in ways that were completely alien to me.  Indeed, it was those
early years of college that shook up my notions of monolithic black
identity.  I learned that not all black folks thought the same way or
shared the same values.  And I learned that we did not always think
alike on the subject of the relationship between blacks and Jews.  I
learned that not all black people were Christians.  I learned this
from the followers of Elijah Muhammad who sold their papers and
spread their teachings on campus.  And it was there as an
undergraduate that I developed deep friendships and political
alliances with young white Jews.  Then, we did not feel that there
was a need to define the nature of our solidarity; we accepted the
bonds of history, a continuum of shared struggle.  It was only when
we began to look beyond our small circles of intimacy and
fellowship that we had to think critically about the relationship
between blacks and white Jews.  Within feminist circles we focused
our discussions on the relationships between women, not directing
them to a larger audience.  This may be why folks act as though
women thinkers have no worthwhile perspectives to offer on the
subject.  Usually when relations between "blacks and Jews" are
talked about what is really evoked is the relationship between black
men and white Jewish men.

The discussion of black/Jewish relationships in the United
States has mainly been an exchange between male thinkers.  It has
often been dominated by northern voices.  *Yours in Struggle* was
published in 1984 and it did not lead to a growth of literature by
black women (some of whom are Jewish) and white Jewish women.
It was impossible to read Henry Louis Gates' recent New York
Times editorial "Black Demagogues and Pseudo-Scholars" and not
notice that all the critical thinkers mentioned are males.  However, I
assume that he includes black females when he asserts:  "While anti-
Semitism is generally on the wane in this country, it has been on the
rise among black Americans.  A recent survey finds not only that
blacks are twice as likely as whites to hold anti-Semitic views but--
significantly--that it is among the younger and more educated
blacks that anti-Semitism is most pronounced."  This assertion is
dangerously provocative.  I wanted to know how, when, and who
had conducted such a survey.  And whether or not this was equally
true for blacks in different regions--if there were any differences of
opinions based on gender.  Unlike Gates, I do not believe that anti-
Semitism is on the wane in this country.  Anyone who has followed
the campaign of David Duke and the rise in white supremacist
groups, would do well to question such an assertion.  Since I see
anti-Semitism as connected to anti-black racism, which is on the
rise, I can only assume that anti-Semitism is also gaining new
ground.  From my perspective, it is precisely the rise in
conservative thinking that advocates and supports white supremacy
that has created a climate where anti-Semitism and racism are both
flourishing.

The Gates piece paints a graphically harsh portrait of black anti-
Semitism that does not include a concomitant picture of black
resistance to anti-Semitism.  By so doing he runs the risk of further
perpetuating a schism between blacks and Jews.  Though his
critique of recent black anti-Semitic thought and his citing of
specific scholars is useful, his article tends to construct a monolithic
black community that can be and/is easily duped by outspoken
black males (mostly self-appointed leaders) who are pushing anti-
Semitic thinking.  And even though Gates cites work written by
white males as central to the development of anti-Semitic thought
among some blacks, he does not identify them as "white"
influences, which really does distort the issue.  There is a profound
link between white fascism in this society and black fascism, white
conservatism and black conservatism.  Black folks who are anti-
Semitic are not just under the influence of "crazed" black male
leaders, they are also guided by the anti-Semitism that is rampant in
the culture as a whole.  To refuse to see this as a force that shapes
the thinking of conservative black folks, in conjunction with that
anti-Semitic teaching that is an aspect of some Afrocentric thought,
is to fail to understand the problem.  And if we do not accurately
name how anti-Semitism is taught to young black minds we will not
be able to honestly confront, challenge, and change the situation.
Concurrently, if black anti-Semitism is to be eradicated and not
merely evoked in ways that pit one group of black folks against
another, that make one group of black folks the "darlings" among
white Jews and another the "enemy," we must create critical spaces
for dialogue where the aim is not to cast "blame" but to look more
deeply at why two groups who should and must maintain solidarity
are drifting apart.

In my classrooms I can see that one of the primary tensions
between young educated black students (some of whom are Jewish)
and white Jews is engendered by the blacks that many Jews who
have class privilege, who are able to use white skin privilege in a
white supremacist society like this one, no longer identify with the
oppressed (if they ever did) and more importantly often act in a
"colonizing" manner in relation to black experience.  As with other
black folks in the larger society who no longer see Jews as allies in
struggle, they feel the legacy of solidarity has been betrayed.
Contrary to the Gates piece, they see Jews as breaking that
connection in the interest of further assimilation into mainstream
white culture.  Their hostility at this perceived betrayal is often
expressed via anti-Semitic comments.  Yet, when probed, I find
they do not see that dangerous connection between making these
comments and complicity with those who would institutionalize
exploitation and oppression of Jews globally.  Not only do they not
recognize how systems of domination are maintained, they are
ignorant of the ways those of us  who are relatively "powerless" can
act as agents upholding forms of oppression inimical to our own
interest.

However wrong minded, it is not surprising that black
youth, many of whom are from materially privileged backgrounds,
who feel their chances of gaining economic success are continually
thwarted by systems of racial injustice make the mistake of
targeting their rage at with Jews.  This is part of the way racism
works--it is easier to "scapegoat" Jews (especially when one has
concrete racist encounters) than to target larger structures of white
supremacy.  To seriously challenge this anti-Semitism we must have
a better knowledge of institutionalized white supremacy.  That
includes consciously understanding the way white supremacist
culture promotes black anti-Semitism.  For example from whom do
young black folks get the notion that Jews control Hollywood.
This stereotype trickles down from mainstream white culture.  It is
just one of many.  In his NYT article, Gates never acknowledges a
link between white Christian fundamentalism that perpetuates anti-
Semitic thinking and the fundamentalist thinking of narrow black
nationalists.  It is a distortion of reality to act as though any form of
black anti-Semitism, however virulent, exists in isolation from the
anti-Semitism that is learned whenever anyone absorbs without
question the values of mainstream white culture, values that are
taught via mass media, etc.

Indeed, if we were to investigate why masses of black youth
all over the United States know who Louis Farrakhan is, or
Leonard Jeffries etc. we would probably find that a white-
dominated mass media has been the educational source, not those
black bookstores that Gates writes about.  Again I want to strongly
state that the anti-Semitism expressed by such leaders in public
forums is irrevocably linked to the anti-Semitism of those whites
who provide the forums but who are not overtly spreading anti-
Semitic thinking.  It would be a grave mistake for white Jewish
readers of the Gates piece to come away imagining that the group
that they must see as enemies and armor themselves against is
young educated black folks, or black people in general.  It is
significant that narrow nationalist black leaders who push anti-
Semitic thought tend to also push sexist domination of women.
The majority are male unless they are the female followers of
Farrakhan.  It would have Ben interesting had the Gates piece
raised the question of gender for it is not apparent whether or not
black women, young and old, educated or not, are as taken with the
black male scholars and leaders he identifies as spreading anti-
Semitic thinking as are black males.

The only black woman mentioned in the Gates piece is
evoked as a figure of ridicule.  Referred to as the "dreadlocked
woman" who spoke "angrily" at a dialogue between blacks and
white Jews saying to one of the white female organizers:  "I don't
want an apology.  I want reparations.  Forty acres and a mule, plus
interest."  Whether one is speaking in a heated manner to an
audience that includes white Jews or not, why is the rage of black
folks about white supremacy made to appear ridiculous, even if the
direction that rage is targeted at is not an appropriate one?
Surprisingly, even though Gates evokes Martin Luther King to
emphasize the need for us all to remember that white Jews and
black Americans are "caught in an inescapable network of
mutuality," this understanding does not lead to the recognition that
since both groups are accountable for perpetuating conflict,
hostility, and xenophobic/racist thinking about the other, then both
groups must work to create the space for dialogue and
reconciliation.

Many black folks want white Jews to confront and change
their racism.  Elly Bulkin writes passionately and honestly about the
need for white Jews to confront anti-black racism acknowledging:
"...we do not yet know how to raise the issues of Jewish oppression
and racism in the best possible way, or, given the history and
complexity of both, in ways that will assure us not only that we
have done it well, but that we are likely to be heard."  The existence
of Jewish racism does not justify or excuse black anti-Semitism.
However to honestly name and assume accountability for it does
not heighten our awareness that not all Jews have been or are
friends and allies to black folks.  It allows us to face the reality that
there are real circumstances in which Jewish racism manifested in
daily life encounters leads some black folks to see white Jews as
enemies and to imagine that they gain power over this threat by
expressing anti-Semitic thought.  Gates suggests that "many Jews
are puzzled by the recrudescence of black anti-Semitism in view of
the historic alliance" but he does not respond to this puzzlement by
sharing that it is for some black folks a defense against anti-black
racism on the part of Jews.

Solidarity between blacks and white Jews must be mutual.
It cannot be based on a notion of black people as needy victims that
white Jews "help."  It cannot be based on gratitude extended by
black to white Jews for those historical moments when they have
been steadfast comrades in struggle furthering black liberation.  It
has to be rooted in a recognition on the part of both groups of
shared history, shared struggle, and the ways in which our past and
future destinies both connect and diverge.  It has to be rooted in an
ongoing political recognition that white supremacy relies on the
maintenance of anti-black racism and anti-Semitism, hence there
will never be a time when these two struggles will not be
connected.  No matter how many or how strong the ties Jewish
political parties make with white South Africa, thereby condoning
the maintenance of white supremacy, this reality will remain.
Whenever there is white supremacy, there will be anti-Semitism and
racism.

The failure of blacks and white Jews to engage in critical
dialogue that does not reflect prevailing racist hierarchy has meant
that it is unclear in what context either group can be critical of the
other without being labeled racist or anti-Semitic.  Where is the
context where blacks can come together with white Jews and talk
critically about Jewish appropriation and commodification of black
culture?  Where is the context where Jews can come together with
black non-Jews and talk about the sense of betrayal of a historical
legacy of solidarity?  What is the context in which black people can
be critical of Zionist policies that condone the colonization and
exploitation of Palestine?  Where is the context in which Jews can
question black folks about our attitudes and opinions about Israel,
about Jewish nationalism?  Unless these contexts exist we will not
be able to create the kind of critical thinking and writing that can
challenge and transform black anti-Semitism or white Jewish
racism.  Targeting our critiques solely at anti-Semitic black leaders
(who represent a small fragment of black populations) does not
enable masses of blacks and white Jews to understand both the
historical and present day connections between the growth of white
supremacy, the development of anti-Semitic thought and practice
globally, and the spread of anti-black racism.  It is this knowledge
that would enable folks from both groups to understand why
solidarity between us must be nurtured and sustained.

Black people are not more responsible for eradicating
strains of anti-Semitism in black life, than in the culture as a whole.
However, we must stand against anti-Semitism wherever we
encounter it.  It is the task facing any of us who work for freedom.
To honor our bond of inescapable mutuality, black people and
white Jews must share in the *collective work of* creating theory
and practice that can counter the anti-Semitic biases of the culture,
in whatever location those biases speak themselves.  Working
equally to eradicate anti-Semitism, we work to end racism.

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