Blacks vs. Jews
This post is for my own education. I know bits and pieces of the relationship between the Black community and the Jewish community. I know there were many in the Jewish community that were involved in the Civil Rights Movement and in grooming Black intellectuals in the 50's and 60's. But what I am not understanding is the bad blood that exist between the two communities today. Some of it stems from many Black people that Jews control the entertainment industry and systematically limit access to Black entertainers - but is that really true?
What's going on here? Is there really a problem or is it media hype? I'm going to do some research but maybe someone can point me in an interesting direction.
3:47 PM FYI I came to your defense again on my blog. I had a real troll causing me problems and I told him if he could be like you I wouldn't have to delete his comments :-).
4:33 PM 12 06 05
James: I still don't get that beef between us and them. ON the other hand, I have also seen some strange looking marriages between the two groups as well. I think we are one in the same myself and see all of the bs rhetoric as what it is: bs!!! PS James, are you a shill? ha ha ha ha ha ha ha I read you cussing out post to my husband and I promise we must have laughed for an hour!!!! Have a good evening!
4:45 PM James,
There is a serious issue concerning black muslims and Jews.- that and the people that repeat and believe what black muslims say about Jews. I have never understood this division, the Jews were there at the birth of the civil rights movement- they supported the cause with money,lawyers, and plain old-fashion encouragement.
Later'
7:41 PM Fascinating and illuminating article Malik.
8:19 PM James,
(The structure of the American society has trapped both minorities into attitudes of perpetual hostility.) I believe that it is mostly to do with the system of racism here in America. Both of the groups stuggling against an equal amount of bias...one based on religion ...the other on color...and not trusting each other to accomplish any goals in tandem...the same way blacks are conditioned with stereotypes about Jews...the Jews do the same...
A great essay that gives some history on this subject is James Baldwin's "the Harlem Ghetto". It can be found in the book Notes of a Native Son. My first line is a paraphase from that.
10:48 PM Thanks for the comments. I will keep reading and post something on this subject later
9:27 AM Malik, the link is a great resource. Thanks! I'm going to bookmark it.
James, this is a good topic.
11:37 AM Even though I am a Jewish man myself, I tend to agree with the theory that Jews run Hollywood and are trying to destroy the black community with television programming. Can there be any other other explanation for the Jewish sitcom writers who created the Urkel character on Family Matters?
With Urkel's large, thick eyeglasses, "high-water" pants held up by suspenders, and a high-pitched voice with a snorting laugh -- Jewish writers tried hard to emasculate the strong African man. And did he ever win the love of his beautiful black Queen -- Laura Winslow. No. Over and over, she rejected him because he was a black "nerd."
Actually, seriously, I do agree that TV and movie casts were one color for way too long, mostly due to the pressure of advertisers and just rampant fear for job security in the industry. Why try anything new?
But now, everyone is comfortable with black movie stars and I would think there would be a lot more roles in the future. I just wish that the audiences wasn't so segmented -- with black and white audiences frequently going to completely different movies on opening weekends.
If anyone should be complaining, it should be Asians and Latinos, who you almost never see on the screen in a starring role.
And the group that is most discriminated against: women over 35 and women of all color who are OVER SIZE 2!
12:07 PM Neil,
Thanks for your input. I actually like Urkel and you can't forget about Karl - he was a rough one.
9:37 PM This book will give you some insights into the duplicitous nature of the Jews . A few powerful Jews from New York also funneled millions of dollars into the Georgia election to unseat Cynthia McKinney. As far as the civil rights movement goes, the Jews had their reasons. Where are they now in the struggle? There is bad blood for a reason.
10:07 PM Oh, it breaks my heart to see the "Jewish conspiracy" thing here. This idea is old and untrue and has been used to persecute Jews since time immemorial.
I think part of this issue is that Conservatives have fed this issue among both Blacks and Jews. It's in their interest to divide minorities. If all of us (and I don't know why I'm including my lilly white ass in "us", but I know where I stand in the conservative v. liberal war), were to gang up on them, they'd be out on their asses.
It's also worth mentioning that two of the three students murdered in Mississippi during Freedom Summer were Jews.
Also there's the whole Black Muslim thing and Minister Farrakhan's rhetoric. Man, I find that man hard to take. There's so much hate in his words. I'll take Martin over Lewis any day.
But as a Christian, and I know you're a Christian so I'm not hanging you with my beliefs, we owe a debt to the Jews. Our religious traditions sprang from their's. JESUS was a Jew. A practicing, if radical, Jew. He just "practiced" exceptionally well.
Finally, as for Blacks in Hollywood, you gotta hand it to Morgan Freeman, he showed up and read for the part of Red (obviously not a "black" part) in Shawshank Redemption and succeeded in convincing Stephen King and the producers that there was no reason in the world he couldn't play that part. And for my money, that man was robbed of an Oscar, his narration of that movie alone was Oscar worthy. Did racism play a part in him not getting the Oscar? Oh, you bet it did. But I don't think there was a "Jewish conspiracy" to keep him from it. I think it was the sneaky under-your-skin sort of racism that people like to believe they don't have. And I think most of those people weren't Jews.
I'll know the world is a better place when there quits being "black roles" and "white roles" in movies. There should just be actor rolls.
Now having said all that, I know I am completely unqualified to speak to the "Black" experience. I can read all I want, and try to learn all I want, and empathize all I want, but I'm never gonna be there. So take me with a grain of salt, man. And let me know where you end up on this issue.
12:23 AM Even if it were absolutely true that there was some sort of anti-black tendency in Hollywood, which is unlikely, any focus on it is like attacking the treehouse when the castle is right behind it. Neither of us have to worry too much about Morgan Freeman. I'm sure he lives comfortably. The bigger issue is why aren't there aren't more people of color in corporate America, on Wall Street, in the oil business, in Washington -- where real power and money is located?
Sure, Hollywood is glamorous, but it is basically a silly industry, where only a few actually make it and most fail. The key is not worrying about actors, but how to get a more diverse crowd in corporate America, including the big media conglomerates like Time Warner-AOL and Sony.
As for Jews and the civil right movement, is there any other group that is still so active in "liberal" causes?
I'm not surprised that there is some tensions between blacks and Jews. I remember them growing up in Queens, near Jamaica. Unlike Italian neighborhoods, Jews actually didn't bop black people over the heads with heavy objects when they moved into "their" neighborhood. In fact, it was one of the few white neighborhoods that blacks could move into. So, Jews and blacks began to live in close proximity. Jews are always into liberal causes, but they can be condescending and patronizing. I think that's why most of the original Jewish NAACP founders eventually were pushed aside.
On the other hand, more black families in a Jewish neighborhood always brought more crime to the neighborhood. As politically incorrect as it is to say that, we all know that it is true. And it is black-on-black crime that is the biggest problem. And Jews didn't like this increase in crime either. The two groups were stuck together and urban closeness caused some strife. This is despite many similarities, like senses of humor and the inability to swim.
Minister Farrakhan really turned a lot of Jews away from the black community because he seemed pretty racist in his views. Diane S. had it right when she said that the powers that be enjoy seeing all the minorities fight among themselves, rather than question a system that keeps many members of one group under the poverty level. You see blacks and Latinos now having some conflicts in Los Angeles as they fight over the same jobs and neighborhoods.
Anyway, just to end on lighter note, both black and Jewish women are pretty hot.
12:35 AM Cynthia,
I don't think that you really understand the premise of the book. Are you for real.
James,
As cliche as it sounds I am a Jewish man who has always had Black friends. I can't remember a time when I didn't.
I have no love for Farrakhan but he has proven not to be a friend of my people and I learned a long time ago to be wary of those who were so verbally abusive towards others.
I think that there are those people out here who are interested in doing what they can to try and pit minority groups against each other as it serves their interests.
I am not big on conspiracy theories but that is one that I buy into.
4:40 PM Racism is shameful to the Jewish people, as is Zionism. It is unthinkable to a practicing Jew to become so assimilated to western culture that we forget we are Jews, and side ourselves with the agenda of a culture that is so shifting and manipulative that it has exiles beating down exiles. If the Jewish people could take part in such an atrocity as the Amistad, then we truly were having amnesia.
The African and the Jew should realize they are in equal positions. Many Africans also believe in God, while many Jews have become more secular. If Jews would return to God and their traditions, we would do away with our racism. We don't all need to become orthodox, we just need to revive the heart of Torah teachings in our culture.
My mother used to send me cd's of Bob Marley and Toots and the Maytals (my favorite song was "Pressure Drop"), and when I was in high school I was blessed to make some Ethiopian friends who also listened to those artists, and we could talk about the parallels of the diasporas, both Jewish and African, and I knew by listening to Reggae as a child that Rastafari also believe in God and speak out against their culture conforming to Babylon, just like the Prophets spoke against Israel becoming like the Greeks and Romans. Even if we differed in our theology, we shared a lot of our ideas and all of us could say that they were waiting for His Messiah to come and bring God's Kingdom. I think that Babylon will continue to hold God's people in chains until then.
If could never speak for all of the Jewish people, but if I could then I would say to "We are sorry brothers and friends for forgetting who we were. Please forgive us, and may God bless us both."
5:13 PM really, blacks and Jews should appreciate each others differences and live harmoniously together. i hope both cultures can move forward into racial friendship. if we are facing things like this
http://www.adl.org/learn/Ext_US/WCOTC.asp?xpicked=3&item=17
we should be facing them together while we each maintain our own cultures. i think the best thing is for blacks to stay black and jews to stay jewish and both to stay friends. there are many things that africans and jews can share with each other without having to fight for superiority, and if we can't share with each other we can at least respect each other. shalom between Africa and Israel, that's what we need