Anti-Semitism is Racism

08 May 2019

六个月前发生的几起事件中,白人至上主义枪手走进美国的犹太教堂,唯一的目的就是杀害犹太人。致命的反犹太主义似乎又回来了。但事实上,它从未消失。它只是处于休眠状态,就像一个古老的病原体,当环境再次适合它时,它会重新苏醒。

Judging from what I’ve read, and from the conversations that I’ve had with students, friends, and colleagues, many Americans think that the synagogue shootings were motivated by religious hatred, just as many believe that the Nazis persecuted Jews because their Jewish faith. This is seriously and troublingly wrong. To the Nazis of the past, as well as the neo-Nazis of the present, a person is a Jew because of their race. During the Third Reich, you didn’t have to practice the Jewish religion to end up in the ovens of Treblinka. And conversion to Christianity or to atheism didn’t make you any less Jewish. Race was all that mattered.

As historian Michael Berkowitz observes in his bookThe Crime of My Very Existence: Nazism and the Myth of Jewish Criminality:

犹太人是一个独特的种族,德国人是一个纯粹的雅利安种族,这种疯狂的观念几乎影响了纳粹国家的方方面面,以及它所掌握的一切。一旦掌权,纳粹就花费大量的时间和精力镇压和消灭那些他们认为是种族威胁的人。种族主义显然是在大屠杀中对欧洲犹太人进行系统性大规模屠杀的核心。

The racialization of Jews didn’t begin with the Nazis. It stretches back at least to 15thcentury Spain, and probably much further. The idea that Jewish “blood” can contaminate the purity of the White race has been around in the US for quite a while too, as is evidenced by the American eugenicist Madison Grant’s 1916 remark that, “Whether we like to admit it or not, the result of the mixture of two races, in the long run, gives us a race reverting to the more ancient, generalized and lower type…. the cross between any of the three European races and a Jew is a Jew.”

Americans have a hard time wrapping their minds around the idea that anti-Semitism is racism because they so often equate race with skin color. It’s a view that’s demonstrated time and again when people describe a person’s race as “the color of their skin.” This is a profoundly misleading way to think of race, because种族是一个政治范畴,而不是肤色范畴。

与许多对这些问题感兴趣的哲学家不同,我并不特别关心所谓的“种族形而上学”——对种族是否真实,以及如果真实,又是什么让它们真实的哲学探索。Instead, I’m concerned with what I call thefolk-metaphysics of race—人们对种族本质的本能假设(包括我们哲学家在街上而不是在教室里教学或埋头于研究时做出的假设)。

The most common folk-metaphysical picture of race goes like this. There are a small number offundamentally不同种类的人类,地球上的每个人要么是其中一种的“纯”样本,要么是两种或两种以上人类的混合体。Although most members of each kind have an appearance that’s typical of their kind (skin color, hair texture, facial features, psychological dispositions, and the like), these observable features aren’t whatmakea person the race that they are. They’re merely surface features, but a person’s race is something that’s deep inside of them—it’s something that’s unalterable, that’s in their blood or in their genes, that’s handed down biologically from parents to their offspring, and that constantly presses for expression. Philosophers call this the idea of a “racial essence.”

Although a person’s appearance is taken to be a pretty reliable indicator of their racial essence, it can belie their true nature, and allow them to pass themselves off as belonging to a different race. This is why White supremacists believe that a person can display all the outward signs of Whiteness withoutreally是白色的。这就是犹太人的用武之地。许多犹太人看起来是白人,其实不是白人。和过去的纳粹一样,今天的白人至上主义者认为犹太人特别具有威胁性,因为他们可以如此容易地掩盖自己的真实种族身份,并潜心融入白人社会,在那里他们致力于消灭白人种族(用他们的行话来说,就是“白人种族灭绝”)。这就是为什么夏洛茨维尔(Charlottesville)高举火炬的愤愤不平的游行者高呼“犹太人不会取代我们!”

尽管种族本质主义是科学上的无稽之谈,但它牢牢控制着人类的想象力。在右翼极端分子的例子中,形而上学可以变成致命的。我在这篇文章开头提到的两起犹太教堂枪击事件,都是出于种族动机,就像在美国和国外越来越频繁发生的许多其他反犹太暴力事件一样。有鉴于此,将反犹太暴力与种族主义暴力区分开来是一个严重的,甚至可能是危险的错误。Anti-Semitism is racism. Let’s stop courting confusion and call it what it really is.

Comments(11)


Harold G. Neuman's picture

Harold G. Neuman

Wednesday, May 8, 2019 -- 3:02 PM

'Let's stop courting

'Let's stop courting confusion and call it what it really is'. All right, then. Antisemitism is Racism, BECAUSE it is what we believe it to be. How do we change beliefs? I do not know. There is a re-visitation of John Dewey, upcoming. I have admired him as pragmatist and educator, but do not know enough about him yet to assess his primal leanings on racism---if indeed, he had any. But his feelings toward belief were pretty well stated in his life and works. He thought beliefs suspect, ('shady') at best. Additionally, he noted that belief need not be based on belief in God., saying something like: religion and science, ... both, equally, are what they are because human beings HAVE THE INTERESTS THEY DO (emphasis added).Bingo. (He could have added IRRELIGION, but that might have been throwing the baby out with the bath water. Or something). Just as we cannot legislate morality, (as some have asserted foolishly), we cannot legislate reason, as the Humanists seem to be advocating, of late. I told them today that I thought their legislative support was misplaced---don't expect to hear anything about that notion. I do not mind, one way or the other. My contention is that we cannot stop the 'courting of confusion', when facts have no affect on those whose minds are 'made up'. This is one of the thornier problems of society. I would like it to be resolved. That solution may take more than we can muster. now or ever...unless we learn the true meaning of 'reason', in all of its implications. Be well, Dr. Livingstone Smith. Kudos to PT: always there; always cordial....
Neuman.

Dwells's picture

Dwells

Friday, June 21, 2019 -- 5:34 PM

I think we ought to examine

I think we ought to examine the inoculation of belief systems in our children. My father was independent from the culture around him. He was a man of strong religious belief--he mostly took the Bible literally. Or so it seem to those who discussed religion with him. But he did not try to encourage others to join into some church. In fact he did not think very much of churches and/or church congregations.

我认为他所说的“与上帝相处融洽”并不是指教会。这样我就有了自己的价值观。爸爸认为黑人是伟大的人。他喜欢他们,他们也喜欢他。当我上大学时(爸爸认为这没什么用),我的朋友把我遇到的所有“种族”(少数民族)都包括进来。

Because of those who decided to assemble and s ynchiornize the Bible's contents, Dad was prejudiced of Jews. I was independent of his prejudice because he did not preach such stuff to me or anyone else.

I did not preach to my children either. I think up-bringing has something significant to do with racism. My youngest asked me about this once when he said, "Dad, my friends all have poor attitudes about their parents. Why?"

The "selves" in my family were strong. This revelation comes to me well after the fact. I think that what parents give to their children can be born of fear. If you do not have the fear, you do not pass it on.

Sebastian Flyte's picture

Sebastian Flyte

Thursday, May 9, 2019 -- 10:28 PM

The crackpot notion that

The crackpot notion that Jews are a distinct raceyet contemporary anti-semitism is racism even though there's no such thing as biological race?

这就是哲学系的推理吗?他们应该被称为“少年诡辩部门”。

all jews are closer to one another at genetic level than they are to any group of non-jews. ashkenazi, mizrahi, sephardi. it doesn't matter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_studies_on_Jews

David Livingstone Smith's picture

大卫Livingsto……

Friday, May 10, 2019 -- 10:34 AM

You are clearly unfamiliar

You are clearly unfamiliar with the relevant literature. Racialization (regarding a group of people as belonging to a race) doesn't entail that races exist any more than, say, believing in Bigfoot entails that Bigfoot exists. There are basically three positions on the reality/unreality of race. Biological realists hold that races are biologically significant groupings (hardly anybody in the humanities or sciences believes this anymore). Social realists believe that races are real social creations (this is the majority scholarly view). Anti-realists (like myself) believe that races are fictional (this, obviously, is a minority view). The wikipedia article that you cite does not actually support your final sentence. Read it carefully. I would suggest that you acquaint yourself the very good research literature on this fascinating topic if--as seems to be the case--you find it of interest.

Dwells's picture

Dwells

Tuesday, June 18, 2019 -- 5:43 PM

Condescending.

Condescending.

MJA's picture

MJA

Monday, May 13, 2019 -- 7:30 AM

"ο άνθρωπος είναι το μέτρο

"ο άνθρωπος είναι το μέτρο όλων των πραγμάτων>" "Man is the measure of all things." Protagoras

The effect of these measurements is the division some call racism. We have been taught to measure everything, it is the scientific method. But who are we to measure or judge anything? Until One knows everything One can judge nothing. As to the question: is nature measurable, is it? What is it's measurement? How many leaves are on a tree? How many grains of sand are on a beach? Which way does a river flow? Measure divides, truth unites. In that division is inequity. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." All men or all things? When all is equal all is One.
缺点是测量,这是我们都被教导要做的。我们对一切事物的衡量和划分都是不公平的,而科学已经证明,对自然的衡量充其量是不确定的。量子力学的任何人。爱因斯坦知道,自然不是一个骰子游戏,不是一个衡量和概率的游戏,但遗憾的是,他没有找到能够纠正我们的方法的解决方案。他被告知,光速是恒定的,但挡住了他的去路,也挡住了我们的去路。超越光速的是一种不可测量的光,隧道尽头的光,应许之地,就在这里,现在,是公正的,是平等的,是正确的。我们要做的就是做真实的,确定的,成为一。=

columbus.cooper's picture

columbus.cooper

Tuesday, May 28, 2019 -- 9:50 PM

There is little doubt that

毫无疑问,我们今天所理解的种族主义与肤色有关。购买和绑2022世界杯小组赛分组架深色皮肤的人使奴隶主受益,因为他们的身份得到了提高,从而提高了对奴隶的控制。关于野蛮人的神话,以及基因、道德和智力的劣等说法,都被归因于非洲人以及任何与他们有基因联系的人。这些描述的目的是为奴隶制辩护,保护利润。一些利润支付给那些支持奴隶制的科学家、历史学家、哲学家、医生、宗教领袖、政治家和机构,并使他们受益。种族主义、白人至上主义和机构腐败的产生都是由奸商买单和驱使的。奴隶制的做法现在是非法的,但它对制度的影响和对事实的歪曲仍然存在。

例如,可以肯定的是,所谓的希腊哲学和世界主要宗教的历史都与非洲有重要的联系。希罗多德、狄奥多鲁斯·西库勒斯、亚里士多德、毕达哥拉斯和其他古代资料都证实了这一点。根据他们自己的报告,许多希腊人在非洲旅行和/或学习。有大量的文献记载,毕达哥拉斯和其他希腊人曾在埃及学习多年。调查希腊人为什么去埃及学习,他们学习什么,似乎是很自然的事情。相反,与埃及的联系似乎有意保持距离。历史学家乐于忽视任何非洲的影响、关系或希腊教义的创造。

白人至上主义的心态把所有的成就都归功于白人。先进的文明必须是白人,或者至少部分是白人。这就是为什么有人说白人移民到非洲创造了埃及。这就是为什么据说埃及人画自己的时候皮肤是黑色和棕色的,但不是黑皮肤。这就是为什么希腊哲学与非洲的关系没有被发现的原因。种族主义观点不能接受埃及是一个黑人文明。它也不能接受黑人发展了很多哲学并教导了希腊人。埃及人更容易接受来自太空的外星人的观点,而不是黑人天才的观点。

Books like Stolen Legacy and Black Athena have argued for different views of the African contribution to philosophy and the Greeks. However, one does not have to agree with these books to conclude that the story of Greek philosophy conveniently ignores important details and relationships.

The concept of race has no scientific validity but the belief in it persists due to constant reinforcement. If philosophy departments care about racism, they might consider some adjustments. Racism is not just what we say but sometimes what we don't say. The evidence of African influence on classical Greek philosophy is overwhelming. Philosophy departments can help counter racism by teaching from a perspective that recognizes the contributions of all.

Herodotus
Diodorus Siculus
Stolen Legacy
Reformation of African History
Black Athena

Harold G. Neuman's picture

Harold G. Neuman

Thursday, May 30, 2019 -- 3:27 PM

Returning to my comments of

Returning to my comments of May 8, the matter turns on what people do based on the interests they have. This is problematic, because THOSE interests turn upon Foucault's notions about power. And, if it were not founded upon skin color; ethnicity; socio-economic position; class; caste or some other manufactured ineffability, the entire notion of discriminatory treatment (i.e., racism, etc.) would have no traction. Dewey, and others, have already sorted this out. Question is: how do we change the 'nature' which has brought all this about. That would resemble (somewhat): How do we reverse or re-engineer the damage now being done by social media? Assuming, of course, recognition that such damage is now being done... This, too, is doing philosophy. Thanks, Tim, for your support.

Dwells's picture

Dwells

Tuesday, June 18, 2019 -- 5:54 PM

I think that all our media

I think that all our media reinforce us. Maybe the best we can do is be mindful of what we are doing when we pat ourselves on the back?

columbus.cooper's picture

columbus.cooper

Saturday, June 8, 2019 -- 3:45 PM

There is a direct

种族主义行为和种族主义信念之间有着直接的关系。当支持种族主义信仰体系的虚假信息不受质疑时,一切都将受损。我们知道真相不是万能的。传播谎言或歪曲事实的人往往知道真相。然而,我相信真相和教育是解决由信仰驱动的问题的最好武器。我们应该教真理,教育必须包括道德。我知道这样的建议关乎谁的道德问题,但我们的技术能力使这成为一个我们不能忽视的问题。在美国,普通人可以接触到能杀死数百人的技术。总统控制着杀死数十亿人的技术。鉴于这些现实,我们不能把教育、情感和道德的发展完全交给运气。 It is necessary to develop more than loyalty to democracy, capitalism, individualism and competition. We compete for everything, teach the value of success but never what do you do when you lose or fail. Blame everyone, hate everyone and kill everyone is too often the answer. The equation is unbalanced because the mathematics of developing your economic, political and legal systems around competition does not require concern for others or morality. Institutions based on the behavior of beasts are devolution and do not reflect the ideals that man should aspire to. Much effort is put into teaching love for this country and these institutions but little toward love for truth, justice or each other. It is the "nature" of what we teach and how we teach that influences the evolution of thought. Education can be part of the solution or the dysfunction. Social media is a tool. Racism is a tool. Education is a tool. Education must include and consider values beyond political indoctrination.

Dwells's picture

Dwells

Friday, June 21, 2019 -- 4:53 PM

Truth. Magic. Morality. The

Truth. Magic. Morality. The ingrained character features or flaws of my up-bringing must be dealt with. Racism is not a tool. It is a habit. Old habits die hard. When I know that I've been brainwashed, I am better able to respond. Some day I may be able to get beyond my Appalachian roots. Meantime my value system evolves. Now I live in another country. The new perspective is not "better" or "more advanced". However, it teaches by contrast. This is a plus formulticulturalismas compared with melting-pot.Sorry about the word error.