Maine Voices: Whether or not he’s protected by the First Amendment, the racist is as racist as the racist

[ad_1]

As white supremacists emerge from the shadows over the past six years, racist rhetoric aimed at various minorities has escalated exponentially in America. Yet many say that we can’t know what a person believes deep down and that we shouldn’t jump to conclusions: they can just be ignorant and not racist at heart.

The problem is that ignorant comments can have harmful consequences.

As Emeritus Jewish Professor of Psychology at Bowdoin College, I have been particularly interested in the fact that news commentators and politicians generally deplore racism and anti-Semitism as if they were separate forms of discrimination. After former President Donald Trump’s now infamous dinner, for example, Senator Susan Collins said in a statement that she condemned anti-Semitism and white supremacy and that the president should never have had a meal or even a meeting with (prominent white supremacist) Nick Fuentes, the Washington Post reported. Bravo to her for expressing herself with force. Nevertheless, it would be useful to understand why anti-Semitism can rightly be considered a form of racism.

First, Jews are not seen as white by white supremacists, whose demeaning, oppressive, and violent practices against blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, and Muslims also target Jews. The ethnicities of these peoples vary, but their hatred invariably leads to horrific consequences.

Although many think of anti-Semitism solely as a religious bias, in On Inhumanity race scholar David Livingstone Smith explains that Jews in Nazi Germany were called a race of Untermenschen, literally sub-humans, as opposed to the supposedly superior race of white Christians (from Northern Europe). .

In addition, Nazi scientists were looking for an objective blood type marker that distinguished Jews from other Germans. But failing in this search (such a racialized marker does not exist), in 1935 the Nazis passed the Nuremberg Laws. These stated that the defining Jewish trait was ancestry from three Jewish grandparents and that you were Jewish regardless of what religious beliefs you held.

Smith also demonstrated that there is no hidden essence that distinguishes one race from another, as racists generally assume. Connecting this to anti-black racism in America, the racist belief that race is in the blood was the basis of the one-drop rule in the American South. A black ancestor could mean you weren’t white. According to Smith, in 1942, after finally backing down from banning black blood donors, the American Red Cross separated white and black blood supplies.

Education helps, but it is not enough. What to do?

We must recognize that whether a person’s racist speech reflects underlying racial ignorance or hatred (or both), the proliferation of racist rhetoric helps to normalize it, thereby increasing the acceptance of racist lies that intensify racist violence and the oppression of minorities. We saw it in Charlottesville, where white nationalists marched chanting the Nazi slogan The Jews will not replace us.

Although the defeat of Jewish Pennsylvania Governor-elect Josh Shapiros over Doug Mastriano’s anti-Semitic comments was heartening, US Representative from Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene won a second term handily, apparently determined to proudly support her nationalist agenda. white Christian. She is hardly alone.

Elections are important, but so is exposing racist rhetoric for what it is. It should be noted that it took some Republican leaders several days to call Trump for his dinner with Fuentes and the anti-Semitic commenting rapper Ye (formerly known as Kanye West).

Still, some argued that Trump was not a racist himself. Even former Vice President Mike Pence reportedly said: I don’t believe Donald Trump is an anti-Semite. I don’t believe he’s racist or bigoted. I think the chair showed profoundly poor judgment.

Hmm.

Apply Forest Gumps’ famous line about stupidity to racism, racist is also racist. Given the democratically degrading consequences of racist rhetoric, saying so may be considered a form of doing, even though it is protected by the First Amendment.

And regarding politicians who have tolerated racist rhetoric aimed at various other peoples, not saying is also a form of doing: it implicitly gives license to those who seek to harm our nation, whether out of deep ignorance or hatred.

Invalid username/password.

Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.

Use the form below to reset your password. After you submit your account email, we’ll send you an email with a reset code.

” Previous

Maine Voices: Our Community Radio Stations Should Be Cherished

Next ”

Ramesh Ponnuru: Strengthen child tax credit before expanding it

Related stories

[ad_2]