Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Peniel Joseph,
Wikipedia will have you know, is as a “leading voice on race
issues.” The professor of history and public affairs at the University of
Texas, weighing in on Farrakhan’s influence in an NPR
podcast, described Farrakhan’s antisemitic remarks as “a blip,” as though
such remarks are of no significance.
"And so I think that this is a blip. This is not the main story."— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) July 20, 2020
And despite stories like this, or perhaps even *because* of stories like this, the media will generally keep it a blip. pic.twitter.com/AoSL2vS3oF
The purpose of the NPR interview, we are meant to
understand, is a thorough exploration and reassessment of Farrakhan’s influence
in light of recent horrific antisemitic remarks emanating from such celebrity Farrakhan
followers as DeSean
Jackson and Nick
Cannon. Going forward, should celebrities like Chelsea
Handler and Madonna
continue to share Farrakhan’s videos on race? Is it okay for people like Jennifer
Anniston and Jessica Chastain to like those posts? And are we allowed to have
an affinity for some of Farrakhan’s views while overlooking the rest—the horrid antisemitism and the crazy conspiracy theories?
Framed more boldly, if Farrakhan’s message about race is right
on, may we, as a society, ignore the man’s antisemitism? Can we gloss over his
epithets, the things he has said, calling Jews termites
and sexual deviants?
Peniel Joseph was brought onboard by the liberal folk at NPR
for the express purpose of answering these questions with a resounding yes. Yes
we can ignore the antisemitism. Yes we can embrace Farrakhan in spite of the
fact that the Nation of Islam leader is neither reticent nor shy about his
insane hatred for the Jewish people. Because Farrakhan, says Joseph, comes in
two different flavors.
"And on the other hand, you have a version that is preaching at times anti-Semitism, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, numerology, just different theories that some Black leaders feel unbelievably uncomfortable with..."— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) July 20, 2020
"unbelievably uncomfortable with"?!https://t.co/1JvbKhP6KE pic.twitter.com/gQyGoopPcA
That means we get to choose
which Farrakhan to embrace. We don’t have to choose the “bad” Farrakhan who blames
all the world’s ills on the “satanic Jews.” There’s also the “good” Farrakhan—the
one who is fighting for “Black political self-determination.”
The NPR interview is of note because it employs a race
expert to put its liberal imprimatur on an ugly antisemite. And this is done in
a twisted and perverted manner. We are told to think a certain way: that
Farrakhan’s antisemitism is okay because it is offset by other factors, as if such
a thing were possible: as if antisemitism could be offset or trumped by other
matters.
Joseph paints two distinct versions of Farrakhan to
make him “kosher.” The NPR interview is the liberal stamp of
approval on Farrakhan, an “out” for society at large to overlook Farrakhan’s monstrous
antisemitism, because it’s black lives that matter—black lives that are liberal
flavor of the month.
It is sad and tragic to see the way people fall in. The way
they accept, without questioning, what they are told to think. And it is also
frightening to see how easy it is to get people to turn a blind eye to the kind
of antisemitism that gets Jews killed in the millions.
Antisemitism is a hatred based on the idea that Jews
are subhuman. If Jews are vermin, why then, it is okay to murder them or
sacrifice them on the altar of BLM. But first you have to get people to see
them as nothing, as unimportant as stepping on a cockroach. Something to get
out of the way, to get to what’s really important. The MAIN message.
Black lives matter. And Jewish ones do not.
Which is how we come to have Peniel Joseph, really NPR,
telling liberals that they don’t have to be concerned about Farrakhan’s despicable Jew-hatred. That it’s just not important. And because the people want to
believe Joseph, they will. Just as the Germans wanted to believe Hitler. And
the liberal left will look the other way as antisemitism grows, just as the
Germans looked away from the atrocities and continued to believe that it was
all for a good cause. And the cancel culture that applies elsewhere, to other
forms of xenophobia, won’t apply when it comes to hating Jews. Nick Cannon may
be delayed
in getting his show on Fox, but after a proper amount of reflection, he’s
still going to get that show.
Because Jew hatred is somehow different. And in fact, it IS
different. Because the important thing is Black Lives Matter. And if we step on
some Jews to get there, so be it.
Thus we have Farrakhan made kosher for the masses with race
expert Peniel as the “hechsher,” the
stamp of rabbinic approval. Peniel’s ruling is clear: it’s okay to look the
other way on the antisemitism, it’s okay for celebrities to embrace Farrakhan,
for society to embrace Farrakhan, and
overlook his appalling out-sized hatred for the Jewish people.
NPR, using Peniel as its mouthpiece, would like you to
understand that Farrakhan’s main message
s what’s important. Because it’s for black people. And when Farrakhan describes
the Jewish people as sexual deviants or portrays them as Satan, this is only incidental
to the real message of Farrakhan.
That those no-good awful things he says about the Jews can be considered and
rejected, but the man himself, and the things he says on race, should be
embraced. And because Farrakhan’s antisemitism—his outright hatred for the
Jewish people—is not Farrakhan’s main message, it should not be our takeaway.
Which does a great job of reinforcing the idea that it’s
okay for Chelsea Handler, for instance, to post a Farrakhan video on race, that it’s equally okay for Jennifer Aniston and Jessica Chastain and a whole bunch
of other celebrities to follow suit. Which is why we’re going to have to
document it all as it happens. To be the voice of logic in a field of hate, and to
say, “This is wrong.”
It’s the one thing we can do. The one thing we have to do. And we have to do it often
and at length.
It’s just the way it is. The way it always has been when it comes to hating the Jews.
It’s just the way it is. The way it always has been when it comes to hating the Jews.
