opinion
The Kyrie Case Isn’t About ‘Blacks
Vs. Jews.’ It’s About Bigotry
BY ANDREW SILOW-C ARROLL
A powerful revival of “Parade,” the 1998 Broadway
musical about the 1915 lynching of the Jewish
factory manager Leo Frank by a Georgia mob, is
wrapping up a short-term engagement at New York’s
City Center. The show is stirring and moving without
trivializing or exploiting one of the worst antisemitic
incidents in U.S. history.

And yet I couldn’t quite shake my discomfort that
this lavishly orchestrated, heart-tugging musical
about the post-Reconstruction South was focused
on the lynching of a white man. Alfred Uhry, who
wrote the book, and Jason Robert Brown seem to
have anticipated this. They include a song, sung by
two Black characters, noting that the Frank case
would not have gotten half the attention it did if
Frank or the girl he allegedly killed were Black.

For all the glorification of Black and Jewish
cooperation in the civil rights era — some of it
exaggerated, much of it deserved — the two com-
munities have long been locked in this kind of com-
petitive suffering. Black leaders have questioned
Jewish claims to victimhood — especially when
Jews accuse other Black leaders, such as Louis
Farrakhan, of antisemitism — and have accused
Jews of amplifying the power and reach of Black
antisemites for their own ends.

Jews, meanwhile, resent being told that, as a
community that tends to be seen as white, suc-
cessful and politically influential, they can’t be
regarded as victims of bigotry, especially when it
comes from a disempowered minority.

Both dynamics have played out in the case of
Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets star who shared
a link to “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black
America,” a 2018 film that contains a host of
antisemitic tropes and that is based on a book that,
no doubt thanks to Irving, is now a bestseller. In
defending his decision to share the film — and giv-
ing it perhaps the widest platform it ever enjoyed
— Irving downplayed his own sizable Twitter fol-
lowing and influence. “You guys come in here and
make up this powerful influence that I have … [and
say], ‘You cannot post that.’ Why not? Why not?” he
asked reporters.

The canards shared in the film — especially the
notion that Blacks are the “real” Jews — are rooted
in the idea that “the greatness of Black men is
being hidden or stolen from them,” as Jemele Hill,
a Black sports journalist, explains in a piece in
the Atlantic. What dismays Hill and other critics
of Irving — Black, Jewish, both and neither —
is that this understandable impulse to promote
14 NOVEMBER 17, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
The Jewish community
doesn’t have the luxury
of condescension when
celebrities, however
troubled, insert insidious
ideas into the social
media ecosphere.

Black empowerment draws on a history of classic
antisemitism: The film cites Henry Ford’s antise-
mitic opus “The International Jew” and denies the
Holocaust. It claims that Jews have used false-
hoods to “conceal their nature and protect their
status and power.”
Writes Hill: “Irving has joined a troubling club of
high-profile Black male celebrities — also including
the rapper Kanye West — who have stubbornly
embraced conspiracy theories, particularly anti-Se-
mitic ones, under the pretext of seeking a deeper
truth about their own origins.”
Some white liberal Jews are uncomfortable
about calling out certain forms of antisemitism
by prominent Blacks precisely because of a per-
ceived power imbalance between Blacks and Jews,
or because the ideas come from a place where
ignorance meets legitimate grievance. Some Black
leaders have similarly excused the long history of
antisemitism and bigotry by Farrakhan’s Nation of
Islam because the group has been seen as a force
for good in impoverished Black communities.

And still others have suggested that Ye, with a
history of mental illness, and Irving, who often
dabbles in conspiracy theories, should not be sub-
jected to the blunt outrage used to combat white
supremacy and anti-Zionism. Or that none of us
should be in the business of “policing the expres-
sion of Black athletes,” as the sports journalist
Shireen Ahmed put it (before condemning Irving,
it should be said).

These attitudes are patronizing, and it’s import-
ant to note that few if any influential Jews or Black
commentators went there this week. West and
Irving had few defenders for the antisemitic things
they said or shared (although there was some
Twitter “what-aboutism” suggesting the NBA was
more concerned about a Black man’s antisemitism
than China’s treatment of the Uighurs — a sticking
point for a league that does major business in
China). On the left, Dave Zirin of The Nation writes
about the link between racism and antisemitism
and the far right: “What terrifies me about the cur-
rent moment is that Kyrie’s politics are migrating
and finding a sick alliance among Nazis, fascists,
nationalists, and all manner of white suprema-
cists who have long promoted these notions but
wanted no part of Black politics unless it was about
expressing common separatist ideas.”
As Zirin suggests, the canards West and Irving
are sharing are hardly unique to the Black commu-
nity. Antisemitism and racism are social prejudices
“that all peoples and societies fall prey to,” is how
Kendell Pinkney, who is Black and Jewish, put it in
a JTA essay.

The Jewish community doesn’t have the luxury
of condescension when celebrities, however trou-
bled, insert insidious ideas into the social media
ecosphere. On Nov. 3, as the Nets, Kyrie, the NBA
and the Anti-Defamation League were going back
and forth on how to defuse his behavior, the FBI
warned New Jersey synagogues of a credible “broad
threat” against them, apparently from a man, so far
unidentified, who holds “radical extremist views.”
Jews are vigilant about diehard conspiracy theo-
ries, political dog whistles and online harassment
not because they want to “protect their status and
power,” but because they have seen spasms of
deadly violence inspired by garbage shared online.

Late on Nov. 3, Irving at last apologized for
his tweet, writing, “I posted a Documentary that
contained some false anti-Semitic statements,
narratives, and language that were untrue and
offensive to the Jewish Race/Religion, and I take
full accountability and responsibly for my actions.”
His statement came after the Nets suspended him
for a minimum of five games.

It’s not clear what other acts of contrition he
might undertake, but I suggest he read up on
the Leo Frank case, in which a Jewish man was
falsely accused of murder by the same bigots
who enforced Jim Crow. He might learn that when
it comes to confronting hate and bigotry, Jews
and Blacks have more to gain by listening to one
another than tweeting about each other. JE
Andrew Silow-Carroll is editor-in-chief of the New
York Jewish Week and senior editor of the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency.




nation / world
UK Chief Rabbi Will Sleep Over at King Charles’ House to
Attend Coronation, Which Falls on Shabbat
King Charles III wants to make sure that the United Kingdom’s chief rabbi can
make it to his coronation ceremony next year — so much so that he’s letting the
Jewish leader sleep over at his house, JTA.org reported.

The coronation is set for May 6, 2023, which falls on a Saturday, in the middle of
the Jewish sabbath. Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and his wife Valerie, who are Orthodox,
are not allowed under Jewish law to travel by car or use electricity on Shabbat.

King Charles’ residence before he moves into Buckingham Palace is Clarence
House, located a few minutes’ walk from the palace. So the sleepover allows the
Mirvises to walk to the ceremony.

While the Telegraph reported that a member of the rabbi’s staff called the offer
“an amazing gesture,” it’s not the first time the king has accommodated Mirvis’
religious observance.

Mirvis, 66, has been the chief rabbi since 2013, succeeding the late Jonathan
Sacks. KFC Germany Apologizes for ‘Treat Yourself’ Chicken
Promotion Tied to Kristallnacht
The German branch of international fast-food chain KFC apologized to custom-
ers on Nov. 9 for sending out a promotional message tied to the anniversary of
Kristallnacht, JTA.org reported.

“It’s memorial day for Kristallnacht! Treat yourself with more tender cheese on
your crispy chicken,” KFC Germany said in an initial push notification message
to customers, in German, advertising its “KFCheese.”
A short time after, the chain sent a follow-up in all-caps: “SORRY WE MADE
A MISTAKE.” The company blamed the message on “a bug in our system.”
Reaction to KFC’s “mistake” came swiftly.

Daniel Sugarman, director of public affairs for the Board of Deputies of British
Jews, tweeted that the promotion was “absolutely hideous.” Arsen Ostrovsky,
head of the pro-Israel legal group International Legal Forum, said he was “utterly
speechless and repulsed.”
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ADL Acquires Jewish Investment Watchdog to Fight Threats to
Israel on Wall Street
The Anti-Defamation League is bolstering its advocacy on Wall Street by absorbing
JLens, an organization known for rating companies on their alleged support for the
Israel boycott, according to an ADL announcement on Nov. 10, JTA.org reported.

Founded in 2012, JLens was for years one of the only groups pressing pro-Is-
rael positions in the growing environmental, social and governance movement,
known as ESG, which advocates for a form of corporate decision-making in
which profit is not the only priority.

Over time, JLens managed to raise awareness that Israel could get ensnared in
ESG filters used by investors who wish to avoid doing business in conflict zones
or with companies implicated in human rights abuses.

As part of its mission, JLens also urges investors, especially Jewish organi-
zations with significant endowments, to prioritize Jewish concerns in deciding
where to put their money. JLens says more than 30 Jewish organizations have
opted to invest nearly $200 million according to JLens guidelines.

Israel Launches $17M Autonomous Public Transportation Pilot
Israel’s Innovation Authority announced on Nov. 6 the launch of a two-year pilot
program to study the viability of using autonomous public buses, JNS.org reported.

In collaboration with the Transportation Ministry and Ayalon Highways, the
authority selected four groups, including Egged, Israel’s largest bus operator, to
begin operating self-driving buses on public roads, according to the IAA.

The state is contributing half of the $17 million required for the two-stage pilot.

In the first stage, the groups will test the technology’s viability from business,
legal and safety standpoints, as well as in closed and operational areas. In the sec-
ond stage, they will operate autonomous bus lines on public roads, with a range
that will grow throughout the pilot. JE
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