Holding a Sign

 

I don’t follow what Ye (Kanye West) says or does. The blatherings of Donald Trump have zero influence over me, either. So when they say ignorant and hateful things I pay them no mind. I wasn’t expecting  them to say anything of value anyway. 

But there’s another way to view this. My friends and neighbors who are Jewish are reeling from antisemitic slurs and threats in public discourse. When they look around for support, they hear nothing. Silence. 

It’s easy for me to deal with this by just scrolling on by while thinking, “That’s stupid and awful.”

No one is saying stupid and awful things about me based on my religion and religious heritage. I don’t even know what that would feel like. More importantly, I don’t view these recent statements through a lens of generational persecution and mass murder. To be Jewish is to carry with you not only the richness of the Jewish faith and culture but also the vivid recollection of the Holocaust and pogroms. When people start talking like Ye or Donald Trump it’s more than a bad moment on the internet.

If this kind of language is out there and nobody pushes back and rejects it, then others with similarly hateful views will see that as a sign. An invitation. I can get away with it, too. It’s not just about mean words. It’s about the demonization of people for their religion and it starts with speech and it progresses to ill-treatment, exclusion, and violence.

It begins with the attempt to normalize this very kind of hate speech.

History has shown over and over again that this is the kind of moment when we can’t be silent. If those of us who aren’t Jewish reject that kind of hate speech (not to mention outright threats) we have to be very, very vocal. We can’t assume our Jewish friends and neighbors know we support them. 

If we are silent, how will they know?

If I scan my Facebook thread over the last several days I see that I have posted about parenting, weird dreams, local events, and searching for the television remotes. Not one word denouncing the antisemitic words of Ye and Trump. Not a single post supporting my Jewish friends who are feeling threatened and maligned.

What’s my excuse? I just think they’ll know I care. Is that the best I can do? 

I know, in my heart of hearts, that there are many people who would come out to show solidarity if something bad happened to Jewish people in our community. They’d light candles, carry signs. They’d be there in a minute to make themselves visible against hate. 

What if we did that before something bad happened? What if we were out there making ourselves visible in support of our neighbors before someone took action? What would that look like?

I keep thinking of the signs people make in support of marathon runners. They stand along the route, encouraging them, hoping to bring a smile, to spur them on to the finish. These people turn out because they know that running long distances is a hard thing. Their presence along the route honors that. They don’t always know people in the race, either. Some of the sign makers and sign holders are there purely because they believe in the innate goodness of the runners.

Imagine that.

How would it feel to Jewish members of our community to know they weren’t alone, that they were valued and accepted and respected? What would proactive community support look like?

And what kind of effect would it have on the haters and small-minded bigots who are out there waiting to see which way the wind blows? It isn’t merely our Jewish friends waiting to see what we will do. It’s Ye, and Trump, and all the people who think like them who may very well be in your neighborhood or workplace. They’re waiting to see what we’ll do, too.

Why does it feel socially awkward to realize that we have to beat back hatred every single time and to take personal responsibility to do something about that? Why is it easier to assemble and carry signs after harm has been done? 

Do we need permission to love our neighbors? Do we feel that addressing these issues publicly breaks some kind of rule for social behavior? 

I don’t know, and I can speak only for myself.  One thing I do know is that I am seeing posts online from Jews who feel intensely vulnerable and for whom the silence is devastating.