And on the other hand...
Yes, the left has a problem with antisemitism... but let's be clear, we've got nothing on the right.
I got a fair number of emails thanking me for “calling out the left” for its antisemitism after my last post, particularly from more conservative friends. I want to be clear: I am calling out antisemitism, which is a problem on both the left and the right. In fact, I don’t think it’s going out on a limb to say that, on the right, it takes on far more frightening forms.
One of the most surprising things to me, when we arrived in Tennessee, was how often I encountered not just open antisemitism, but people who were comfortable identifying themselves as actual Nazis. A student’s date who cornered Dominik at an end-of-the-semester cookout at our house to tell him how much he admired the Nazis because, I guess, he assumed Dominik is proud of his nation’s fascist past. (He is not, of course). I got hundreds of phone calls and emails after being doxxed for attending an anti-Nazi rally after Charlottesville from people felt fine saying or writing things including “six million wasn’t enough,” “Hitler was a hero,” and “die, kike bitch” from emails and phone numbers that often traced back to their real-world identities. I’ve seen trucks with Nazi bumper stickers, neighbors with Nazi tattoos, and in one memorable case, a baby in an 88 (a dog whistle for Heil Hitler, because H is the eighth letter of the alphabet and the internet loves weird dog whistles) onesie.
But it wasn’t until recently that more mainstream conservatives have been willing to tolerate the presence of professed Nazis at rallies and events, and that some politicians are willing to accept their support without comment. (It remains shocking to me that DeSantis has not called out the demonstrators who fly swastikas along side “Vote DeSantis” flags. It is more shocking still that this hasn’t turned Florida voters against him.)
So let me be clear: I am against antisemitism wherever it is, just as I am against bigotry in all forms. (And no, being anti-Nazi is not a form of bigotry; standing against an ideology is different than standing against a people.) As a person involved in many leftist causes—like feeding children, protecting women’s access to healthcare, and other things that just seem like they should be common sense—I call it out when I see it in my spheres of influence. If you are a conservative friend who congratulated me on that, I hope you are calling it out in yours as well.
Powerful and eloquently stated. Thank you Sarah.
Such a world we live in… so thankful for the good people, who I genuinely believe are the majority.