Enough is enough.
Now is not a time to mince words: The left’s silence in this instance signals their complicity in anti-Semitism. They are allowing naked, open bigotry to grow in front of them without a word of protest.
In fact, when Jake Tapper tweeted criticism of Mallory’s attendance, he was himself criticized on the grounds that Mallory is not important enough to castigate.
This is both false and insidious. It’s false because Mallory is the head of one of the most mainstream activist organizations in America. The original Women’s March broke records for attendance for single-day demonstration in the US. It has taken on an even bigger role thanks to the #MeToo movement. It is one of the strongest, most important voices in left wing activism (as it should be).
Mallory’s role, then, is not a fringe leader of some small movement but the leader of a cultural powerhouse. And it is tribalism that has silenced the left on her behalf. Morality should be guiding our positions, not the relative power of others or what “side” they are on. To accept hatred among our own because it is convenient or because it is less dangerous in our minds than the other side’s hatred is an amoral, tribal, strategic decision rather than a moral one.
Ultimately, anti-Semitism is evil, as is racism, xenophobia, homophobia, Islamophobia, and every other hate that takes groups of people and turns them from individuals into massive globs of enemies to be destroyed. It is infuriating that anti-Semitism is not taken as seriously as these other forms of bigotry. But it also exposes a serious moral failing on the left that threatens the very integrity of its collective soul.
Tamika Mallory has not just gone to see a man oozing of such hatred speak. She has publicly endorsed him. She has refused to back down for her attendance. She has refused to denounce his words. She has composed her own anti-Semitic dog-whistling comment. And she has thanked others for supporting her attendance.
It is our job to speak up, not because she is powerful (which she is), and not because she is influential (which she is) and not because if we don’t speak up, the hatred will spread (which it will). We – and everyone else on the left — must speak up because it is the right thing to do.
This isn’t just a “Jewish issue” either because the speech was also transphobic as well. The leaders of the Women’s March can’t be allies to the trans community while they condone this.
Opinion | Memo To Women’s March Leaders: Denounce Anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan
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