(Jewish Group) Condemn antisemitic acts, but don't destroy Black men

[Behind the Aegis]

Unpacking Kanye and Kyrie: Condemn antisemitic acts, but don’t destroy Black men

What exactly was antisemitic about the tweets and statements of Kanye West (now known as Ye) and Kyrie Irving over the past few weeks? Despite being antisemitic in tone, did any of these statements contain some degree of truth? How appropriate was the reaction against both Black men? And could the Jewish reaction to antisemitism by Black celebrities have unintentional consequences to relations between Black gentiles and white Jews?

There have been several attempts to unpack the events of the past few weeks and the reactions to them. Here is mine. I’ve numbered them like a legal briefing, though I have no intention of appearing in any courtroom.

1. Kanye’s original tweet was antisemitic. Threatening to go “death con 3” against any group of people is unambiguously hate speech.

2. But Kanye’s reference to African Jews in antiquity needs to be unpacked because it may not have been antisemitic, at least initially. It’s offensive to state that Black Africans are the real Jews and that European Jews are impostors. But that’s not what West said in his initial tweet.

He stated, “The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also.” Parsing Ye may be a fool’s errand, but by “also” — italics mine — he could have meant “Blacks are Black, and they also are Jews,” or “Blacks are Jews, along with European Jews.” Although that remark immediately sparked outrage, he did not then state that European Jews are not Jews.

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I have mixed feelings about his opinions and conclusions, but it is worth the read IMO.