Calling Out Hate In 2016

As an unabashed Hillary Clinton supporter, of course I was disappointed by Donald Trump’s election night victory, not just because the person far more qualified lost, but because of the fears of what a Trump Presidency would look like. In the short time since Donald Trump was elected President, my fears have begun to be realized with some of the people that President-Elect Trump has chosen to surround himself. First and foremost, we come to Steve Bannon, the former executive chairman of Breitbart News.

Mr. Bannon has proudly proclaimed that his news site is the “platform for the alt-right.” Here’s the problem, “alt-right” doesn’t mean anything. What if I told you that “alt-right” is something that my assistant tells me to try clicking when my computer screen freezes? Doesn’t that sound like a more apt usage of the term? Of course that is in jest, but let’s take a look at what the “alt-right” platform has produced.

The following are headlines that have appeared on Breitbart News’ website:

“Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy”

“Bill Kristol: Republican Spoiler, Renegade Jew”

“The Solution to Online ‘Harassment’ Is Simple: Women Should Log Off”

“Suck It Up Buttercups: Dangerous Faggot Tour Returns to Colleges in September”

“Hoist It High and Proud: The Confederate Flag Proclaims a Glorious Heritage”

“Would You Rather Your Child Had Feminism or Cancer?”

“Gay Rights Have Made Us Dumber, It’s Time To Get Back in the Closet”

Steve Bannon’s comment on the people who consume articles like the above (and those are just a sampling by the way) is as follows:

Look, are there some people that are white nationalists that are attracted to some of the philosophies of the alt-right?” he said. “Maybe. Are there some people that are anti-Semitic that are attracted? Maybe. Right? Maybe some people are attracted to the alt-right that are homophobes, right? But that’s just like, there are certain elements of the progressive left and the hard left that attract certain elements.

What Bannon is tacitly acknowledging there is that, no, no, we’re not racist, sexist, Anti-Semitic, homophobic people, we just cater to them and spoon-feed them stuff they already believe. And I am sure that many would point out that Breitbart employs Jews, gay people, and women who write their articles, but guess what, that doesn’t make the articles any lest abhorrent or change their meanings.

Here is what we have to acknowledge: There is no such thing as alt-right. That term is something concocted to replace racism, sexism, Anti-Semitism, and homophobia, Islamophobia, and the like. “Alt-right” needs to be replaced in our vernacular with “white supremacist.” Do you need more evidence? Guess which “alt-right” groups are the most jubilant at the selection of Steve Bannon to his new post? If you guessed groups like the American Nazi Party and individuals like former KKK leader David Duke, you were right.

Joining the many other groups maligned by Bannon and his website, as a Jew, I am worried about his position, and it would appear that I am not alone. But here’s the thing, calling out hate when we see it cuts both ways. To everybody in the center or on the left who was nodding along with everything up until now, we need to call out hate where we see it on our side as well. As a Jew, I would like to start with the virulent Anti-Semitism that is taking hold in a growing portion of the far left wing.

On a global level, it is not just the hate embodied by governments like those in Iran, Syria, or the Palestinian government (half of which is comprised of Hamas). No, we can look to an entity that is supposed to be the beacon of hope in our imperfect world: The United Nations. To anyone encouraging Israel to abide by UN decisions and votes, you have to realize what you are asking for. The notably centrist New York Daily News (endorsed George W. Bush in ’04, Barack Obama in ’08, Mitt Romney in ’12, and Hillary Clinton in ’16) published a short piece that gives you a small taste of how Anti-Israel the United Nations is as an entity. In reporting on women’s rights, the United Nations,

[m]ost revealingly, after studying how women are faring all the world over, the commission found only one nation worthy of condemnation. Not Sudan, where women are subjected to genital mutilation. Not Syria and Iraq, where ISIS has conducted mass rapes. Not Saudi Arabia, where women are denied even the right to drive. No, the target is Israel and only Israel.

The United Nations has a history of singling out Israel and the UN Resolutions targeting Israel are growing. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, yet somehow it draws the ire of the United Nations more than any other nation. Is Israel perfect? Of course not. But to compare it with Syria, Saudi Arabia, or Iran, and find Israel to be the worst actor is far beyond laughable. So you have to ask yourself, why do you think it is that the United Nations chooses to single out Israel?

The problem is that you don’t need to go overseas to find Anti-Semitism coming from the left wing anymore. Anti-Semitism is especially prevalent on college campuses. Anti-Semitism has long been a problem but has only been getting worse because of Anti-Semitic movements like the BDS movement. Don’t believe me? Check out what sources like NBC, the Newsweek, and The Huffington Post have reported. Many of us as Jews who either have children or want to have children have been targeted in our experiences on campus (I was called a “dirty Jew” in college while walking to class without even uttering a word first) and are even more fearful for our children given the pervasiveness of Anti-Semitism in young people and on college campuses.

There are many other areas that those of us in the center and/or on the left need to do some soul searching. Accusing the other side of refusing to accept facts and for pushing hate does not work if we refuse to condemn those on our side who do the same. That is not meant to equate the left with the right as I would argue vehemently that racism, sexism, and homophobia are far more prevalent on the right wing.

Now more than ever it is  important to review the racism, sexism, homophobia, Anti-Semitism, and hate toward Muslims that President-Elect Trump appealed to in winning the election. We can’t normalize it, and we certainly must not normalize the appointment of someone like Steve Bannon. However, to my Jewish friends on the left rightfully calling out Steve Bannon for Anti-Semitism, you need to call it out where you see it, and not just cherry pick Anti-Semitism when it suits your political leanings. We all have work to do in the coming years to move our country forward, some of us more than others, but if you want the moral high ground, that must become a distinction without a difference.