This week Black-Jewish relations were once again thrown into turmoil over a debate about Nation of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan, highlighting the polarizing difference in the way members of both communities see the 87-year-old spiritual leader. At risk is not only the way to two communities relate to one another in America’s hyper-politicized era, but also how the both the Black and Jewish communities work together to address the substantial social justice issues facing the nation.
The most recent rupture first occurred at the beginning of the week when NFL player and Philadelphia Eagles wide-receiver DeSean Jackson shared a series of Instagram posts that included a quote with anti-Jewish language, as well as photos and praise of Farrakhan. Criticism of Jackson was swift, with the Anti-Defamation League and others calling for an apology. Jackson has since apologized multiple times, and in a lengthy statement addressed the core criticisms of his posts.
“I post a lot of things that are sent to me. I do not have hatred towards anyone. I really didn’t realize what this passage was saying. Hitler has caused terrible pain to Jewish people like the pain African-Americans have suffered,” Jackson wrote. “This was a mistake to post this and I truly apologize for posting it and sorry for any hurt I have caused.”
Jackson’s Instagram posts weren’t the only references to Farrakhan this week. Ex-NBA star Stephen Jackson also praised Farrakhan during an Instagram Live, while also expressing love for the Jewish people. Stephen Jackson also came under fire as he also made comments that many found anti-Semitic with respect to the conspiracy theory that Jewish people “own all the banks.” On Thursday, Eagles defensive linemen Malik Jackson referred to Farrakhan as “honorable” in a since-deleted Tweet. In response, NFL Patriots star Julian Edelman, who identifies as Jewish, shared an impassioned post about why DeSean Jackson’s comments are seen as hurtful by many. Edelman then proposed that he and Jackson should visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum together as a learning experience. The two men have since connected, and according to a Tweet by Edelman, the two men “are planning to use our experiences to educate one another and grow together.”
Photo of Minister Louis Farrakhan (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images For All Money In Records ... [+]
Louis Farrakhan is a lightning rod in Black-Jewish relations for his long history of anti-Semitic comments that many Jews find deeply offensive. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) labels Farrakhan as an anti-Semite. The ADL has tracked Farrakhan’s long history of racist and anti-Jewish comments, which he often repeats in his public speeches and sermons. In the past Farrakhan has referred to Jews as a “theological error” and “Satan masquerading as a covenanted people of God.” He has also trafficked in conspiratorial theories that Jews control banks, media, Hollywood, and world governments.
Yet to many in the Black community, Farrakhan’s organization, the Nation of Islam (NOI), is seen as a strong defender of the Black community, focusing on the need to uplift the community while also being proponents of Black strength and resolve. The well-resourced NOI runs numerous programs in cities across America that work to help the underserved needs of the Black community. While the SPLC may refer to the NOI as a hate group, too many in Black America see it otherwise. This causes the deep division whenever the NOI is praised in public. For example, support of Farrakhan by some of the founders of the Women’s March in 2017 was also a deeply divisive, ultimately resulting in changes in the leadership structure of the organization.
Despite the controversy that Farrakhan references often sparks, the Black and Jewish communities have a long history of allyship and joint-advocacy. Jewish leaders and activists were prominent supporters of the fight against slavery and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s. In fact, Jewish involvement in the fight against racism and discrimination has been a central part of the Jewish American experience, and is also increasingly a defining aspect of its future, as emerging generations of young Jewish adults see their Jewish identity interwoven with calls to fight for justice and inclusion.
Nonetheless, the Jewish community also faces criticism. While it broadly supports the fight against institutional racism, by virtue of the fact that a vast majority of American Jews are white, they also benefit from the privileges and safety that many Black Americans don’t. There are also valid complaints that the Jewish community has much work to do in the way it embraces and includes Black members of its own community. Jews of Color often feel marginalized and excluded from mainstream Jewish life and, in many ways, also reflect society’s overall struggle to engage Black Americans in just ways.
But despite their differences, the Black community and the Jewish community are natural allies in the fight for racial justice. Jews know, painfully so, what discrimination and genocidal behavior can do to a people. They know what it is like to feel like a stranger in a land that they helped build and a victim of state-sponsored violence. And as Jews show time and again, including at moments when known anti-Semites like Farrakhan are praised in public, they will make sure that they shine a light on ways that others prejudice their communities, much like the way the Black Lives Matter movement calls out anti-Black racism.
But the Jewish and Black communities can’t fall into the Farrakhan trap and allow the debate of one man spoil the common cause of many. While it is important to call-out anti-Semitism and racism whenever they rear their ugly heads, it is also important not to let the mere reference of Farrakhan become so over-blown that it derails the important work the communities can do together. Concerns should be taken as genuine, and apologies must be taken at face-value. And then people must move on.
In his apology post on June 7, DeSean Jackson perhaps made the most succinct call to action that both the Jewish community and the Black community should take to heart in the wake of recent events.
“We should be together fighting anti-Semitism and racism,” Jackson wrote.
On this point, DeSean Jackson is totally right – the debate over Farrakhan shouldn’t get in the way of the natural partnership between the Black and Jewish communities in fighting against forces of hate and discrimination. While there are and will remain many differences between the two communities, there are many similarities as well. Perhaps most importantly, there is far too much work to be done…
Together.
