When it comes to Jewish suffering, there is a lack of solidarity not only among white people, but also in the black community. They have a lot in common.
Graffiti by artist Eme Freethinker in commemoration of Black History Month Photo: David Baltzer
That of Corrective The revealed gathering of right-wing extremists at Potsdam's Lehnitzsee lake continues to cause a sensation. In particular, the “remigration master plan” is causing consternation. Consequently, several million people considered to be of non-German descent should be forcibly removed from the Federal Republic, regardless of their citizenship.
For many who experience racism in everyday life, the conspiracy comes as no surprise. But who should do something about it? And are all the demands placed on dominant German culture beneficial or even justified? On the occasion of Black History Month 2024, I would like to advocate for moving beyond the usual black and white thinking.
Regarding the right-wing meeting, black anti-racist Tupoka Ogette published an open letter titled “Dear White People.” In it she calls white He calls on people to save democracy: “Strengthen alliances. Have difficult conversations.” However, in essence, this means outsourcing shared responsibility.
It is important that we… White clothes talk to them and talk to them in detail. However, the call suggests that it is the exclusive task of White clothesto fight hate. As if this world needs more White Saviors! However, that division of labor has now become a business model in the black community. Includes a remission of sins subscription. And that is why we continue to write books that criticize racism and at the same time repent. white Remember our ISBN, our IBAN and our content.
Subcontracting call
But that's not all: calls like “Dear White People” ignore the fact that there are also opinions within the black community that undermine the fight against right-wing extremism. This includes anti-Semitism. World-famous black artists such as Kayne West, Dave Chapelle and Ice Cube regularly make anti-Jewish statements reminiscent of the crude caricatures and reprehensible conspiracy theories of… striker remember. Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, now 90, also rages at Jews like termites and praises Adolf Hitler. Of course, these are “extreme” cases. But these examples only fuel hatred.
Since October 7, the bloodiest mass murder attack on Judaism after the Holocaust, the Jewish people have experienced strong antipathy rather than sympathy. They were given no time to cry nor space to shout their anger. They immediately had to answer questions about every action the State of Israel has taken since 1948. Anyone who wears a kippah or the Star of David on the street lives dangerously. Swastikas and writings like “Jews out!” They are increasingly printed on the walls of houses.
Ogette's post on right-wing deportation plans advises White clothes to this: “Check in with the BIPoC around you.” Marvelous. But it is also up to us Black people to offer our fellow Jews spiritual refuge, and to do so proactively. After George Floyd's murder, millions and millions of white people took to the streets with us around the world, and Jewish women were very involved. Why can't we collectively show solidarity marches with the Israeli hostages? The lack of empathy is shameful.
Antipathy instead of sympathy
Shortly after the terrorist attack, Chicago's Black Lives Matter (BLM) posted a photo of a paraglider carrying a Palestinian flag, in a light-hearted reference to the Hamas paragliders who attacked the Supernova Rave music festival. More than 24 other BLM chapters downplayed the terror as a “desperate act of self-defense.”
Claudine Gay, the first black woman president of the elite Harvard University, also did not behave in an exemplary manner. When asked whether students spreading inflammatory anti-Semitic slogans on campus were violating Harvard's rules of conduct, the academic, who has since resigned over allegations of plagiarism, responded: “It depends on the context.”
An Afro-German visiting professor at the UdK in Berlin speaks of “resistance” against Israel. Many “Israel-critical” voices practice racial framing, according to which Israelis are portrayed as white supremacists. However, 30 percent of Israeli Jews are non-white, and black Israelis of Ethiopian, Bedouin, and African American origin have proudly served in the IDF for generations. But these facts are ignored because they do not fit the narrative.
Furthermore, it was not only UN Women that remained surprisingly calm when allegations of repeated rapes of Jewish women and girls were confirmed. Even those black feminists who tend to talk about intersectionality and sisterhood with a tendency to be scathing couldn't get their teeth together.
Wannsee 2.0
But when I talk about this glaring omission, some black people insult me as a “Sarah's House black” and a “Zionist bitch.” The fact that he has been supporting queer Palestine refugees voluntarily since 2018 has been labeled an “Islamophobic jab.”
There is much more that connects us than separates us. If the black community is unable to condemn anti-Semitism and stand in solidarity with the Jewish people, even in the homeland of the Holocaust, then asking white people to do more to combat hate is a mockery. The Wannsee 2.0 madness is not a fantasy, but an emerging reality.