Sunday, May 22, 2022

White Supremacy Tropes and Recycled Anti-Semitism


Given the anti-Semitic tropes and conspiracy theories that have been used against Jews for centuries, it’s unsurprising that critical race theory (CRT) provides a convenient guise to attack Jews today.

Much has been written about the social justice wars being fought in the halls of academia—university classics programs targeted as foci of white supremacy to be dismantled; professors leaving academia because of its increasingly repressive climate; an illiberal atmosphere in which dissent to “progressive” dogma informed by critical race theory (CRT) is muzzled.

Pamela Paresky, a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago, indicates that “despite its laudable goal of opposing racism and white supremacy, CRT relies on narratives of greed, appropriation, unmerited privilege, and hidden power.”

These are evocative of the anti-Semitic tropes and conspiracy theories that have been used against Jews for centuries, so it’s unsurprising that CRT provides a convenient guise to attack Jews today. As Paresky notes, “the subtlety is that, instead of targeting Jews directly, the target of critical social justice is ‘whiteness.’”

A case in point is the public dispute over the legacy of Heinrich Schenker, a Jewish music theorist from Galicia who lived in the late 19th and early 20th century.

In Autumn 2019, Hunter College Professor Phillip Ewell, a self-described black practitioner of “white music theory,” authored a critical-race analysis of the field to explain how black musicologists are disadvantaged. His central theme accused Schenker of being an ardent racist and admirer of Hitler who shared the Nazis’ ideology of biological/genetic supremacy. He argued that Schenker’s music theory was imbued with the hierarchical belief of inequality that guided his racial supremacist view, joining his musical and supremacist theories into a cohesive, racist worldview. He condemned Schenker’s musical analysis as an “institutionalized racialized structure,” comprising a “white racial frame” to benefit the dominant white race of music theory and blamed generations of Schenkerian scholars for maintaining this frame by “whitewashing” the music theorist’s racist views and separating them from his musical theory. Any disagreement with this view was condemned, a priori, as complicity in the perpetuation of racism.

Timothy Jackson, a tenured music theory professor and director of the Center for Schenkerian Studies at the University of North Texas (UNT), saw this as a case of character assassination and, with fellow scholars at the university, put out an open call for papers responding to the attack on Schenker for publication in the Journal of Schenkerian Studies that he co-founded.

A symposium of responses—both positive and negative—to the CRT study were published, with Jackson authoring an article refuting Ewell’s assertions. Jackson pointed out that Schenker (1868-1935) had started off as a German elitist with cultural superiority views typical of Germans during the Great War period, but that those views evolved and Schenker categorically rejected the Nazis’ racist ideology. According to Jackson, Ewell had distorted history by erasing the music theorist’s proud Jewish identity, faith, and the discrimination he suffered for being a Jew―which necessarily precluded any admiration for Nazi ideology. He pointed to Ewell’s alteration of certain German-language passages, which were removed from their context or misconstrued, to provide proof of Schenker’s racism. (In a subsequent article, Jackson further detailed how quotes were manipulated in Ewell’s article to paint Schenker as “a virulent racist” akin to German Nazis and American white supremacists). Jackson tied these charges of racism attributed to Schenker and his mainly Jewish students to larger currents of Black anti-Semitism that holds Jews as white supremacists at fault for Black suffering.

As a result, Jackson was pilloried on social media. The Society for Music Theory condemned the journal’s symposium as designed to “replicate a culture of whiteness.” A censure resolution signed by professors and graduate students accused Jackson of promoting anti-Black racism. UNT ordered an investigation of the professor and the use of the journal to publish the responses. Jackson was removed from the magazine and funding ceased for the Center of Schenkerian Studies he directed. He became a pariah among his fellow faculty members and graduate students, many of whom left, fearing negative repercussions for their future employment prospects were they to complete their dissertations under his supervision.

The professor, in turn, filed a federal lawsuit against faculty members and a graduate student for defamation of character and against the university for retaliating against his right to academic free speech.

While the case is certainly not the first to pit scholars against those who use critical race theory to discredit classical studies, it demonstrates the ease with which anti-Semitic tropes of supremacy and racism are incorporated into trending ideologies—often with adherents unaware of the sordid history behind these tropes.

The theme of Jewish supremacy was a mainstay of Nazi indoctrination. The age-old anti-Semitic canard about Jews seeking to dominate the world’s non-Jews was popularized in the fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion and resurrected by the Nazis who promoted it as incontrovertible truth. Similarly, the Nazis projected their own racism—the notion of the racial superiority and purity of the Aryan race—onto Jews. In this way, the Nazis falsely accused Jews of the evil and immorality that was at the core of their own ideology: They imposed upon their subjects their belief of German supremacy while accusing Jews of being supremacists. They aspired to Aryan racial purity while accusing Jews of being racists.

“With every means [the Jew] tries to destroy the racial foundations of the people he has set out to subjugate,” Adolf Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf.

Schenker was targeted as a white supremacist and racist, rather than as a Jewish supremacist. His Jewish identity was erased from the charges against him, as accusations of white supremacy against Jews necessitates the erasure of their non-white, Jewish identity and the accompanying context of anti-Jewish bigotry.

CRT proponents reject racial colorblindness as a form of racism. In fact, Ewell argues that “colorblind racism is the most significant form of racism in music theory’s white racial frame and has been used for decades to dismiss those who wish to cite our racialized structures and ideologies.”

Yet the very same CRT adherents practice “Jew blindness” when it comes to depicting Jews as white supremacists. They erase the Jews’ unique experiences of discrimination. And this paves the way for their targeting under the more acceptable aegis of social justice.

That was the case in May 2020, when, against a backdrop of legitimate protests against the killing of George Floyd, the local leader of the LA chapter of Black Lives Matter called for “an uprising, a rebellion, a revolt” through Fairfax, an orthodox Jewish enclave and the oldest Jewish neighborhood in Los Angeles. Businesses were vandalized and some of the area’s synagogues were defaced with spray-painted obscenities and anti-Israel slogans, provoking fear and apprehension among the neighborhood’s Jewish residents and business owners. The leader later explained that the decision to target this neighborhood was “very deliberate” in order “to disrupt spaces of white affluence” so “it’s not just black people who are suffering at the hands of white supremacy.”

By painting a predominantly Jewish community as a bastion of white supremacists, the rioters could deflect and challenge accusations of anti-Semitism against them. In their minds, this was a social justice battle against white supremacy. Social justice warriors contend that charges of anti-Semitism deflect attention from the real racists, the “white supremacists,” even when those so labelled are the targeted Jews themselves.

And so, it was in the battle over Schenker. Among the charges leveled on social media against Jackson, whose Jewish grandparents fled persecution in Europe and whose family members perished in the Holocaust, was that he is not only an anti-Black racist but one motivated by “a disguised form of anti-Semitism.”

The attacks against Jackson were meant to shut down academic debate about Schenker’s legacy. Any question of Schenker’s Jewish experience negating the characterization of him as a white supremacist was dismissed as evidence of the questioner’s own racism, thus keeping alive the anti-Semitic trope without resolving the question.

Professor Jackson resolved the question by exploring Schenker’s Jewish identity and its impact on the accusations against him. He observed that while Schenker was a complex person with human foibles, he was certainly not the racial supremacist he was accused of.

Whatever the motivation behind such charges, one thing is certain: the vilification of Jews as racists and supremacists, disproportionate to their actions and stripped of context or nuance, is yet another iteration of an all-too-familiar anti-Semitic trope.

30 comments:

The Prophet Dervish Z Sanders said...

Israel National News is rightwing. They say CRT is anti semitic? I say bullshit.

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said...

Not only is it anti-Semitic, it's just recycled anti-capitalist anti-Semitism with "white supremacist" substituting as the emergent objet petit 'a instead of "Jew" or "capitalist."

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said...

As specific "white racists" are becoming ever harder to find and rarer in actuality, the absolute white racism of white supremacy has emerged...

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said...

Capitalist realism is all "whitey's" fault. The capitalist realism that forces black women to abort is "institutional racism"... not the "institutional capitalism" that hates poor people or causes "environmental injustices" that result in poor people squatting next to chemical plants..

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said...

Social justice is class based, not raced based. English Lord's hated their white servants even more than they hated their colonial slaves. At least their dark skinned slaves weren't permitted in the Manor House and could be hated from a distance (preferably Ireland).

Joe Conservative said...

...but hey, Dervy, keep 'representing' for the party of big capital. We got the working class covered.

The Prophet Dervish Z Sanders said...

Your delusions continue to grow ever more absurd. I'd write "LOL", but it scary that so many people believe your ridiculous bald-faced lies.

Mollie Hemingway = "No we're not, you are".

If you're stupid enough to think donald tRump was a good president, you're stupid enough to believe anything.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

If black people didn't have it so bad we would have never have had rhythm and blues, and thus no jazz, and thus no big band and rock and roll, and thus no heavy metal. Hail Satan!

The Prophet Dervish Z Sanders said...

The church of Satan loves Ayn Rand.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

So does Jesus. And?

The Prophet Dervish Z Sanders said...

Satan loves Ayn Rand more. She served him well during her time on earth. That the evil Objectivist philosophy lives on brings Satan great joy.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

* The evil Objectivist philosophy that you've never read and can't explain.

The Prophet Dervish Z Sanders said...

No, not that one.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Which one then? Explain it...

The Prophet Dervish Z Sanders said...

"Objectivism" is an ideology for egomanial narcissistic sociopaths who believe they're better than most people. They measure success in terms of money. Why they look down on poor people and have little to no empathy for them. Mostly they view the poor with contempt (Ayn Rand said the poor are parasites). I view it as similar to a belief in the "prosperity gospel", except each egomaniacal Objectivist sees him or herself as the center of the universe (why Rand believed the world would end when she died). They love no one more than they love themselves.

donald tRump, an egomanial narcissistic sociopath, is an Ayn Rand fan. Though he is definitely not an Objectivist. I point out this obvious fact because, if I did not, I am sure that is what you would assume I am saying. Ayn Rand has many fans within the republican party. Even though she would surely not be fans of theirs.

btw, I am 100 percent positive my response will be declared by you as proving your assertion that I don't know what Objectivism is and that I can't explain it. What I wrote will be viewed by you as more blithering idiocy and further proof of my extreme stupidity.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

You're right. Objectivism is an ideology....

But then you went downhill with nonsense about narcissism and sociopaths.

Your last paragraph is little more than self-fulfilling prophecy. Make it hard on me... actually know what you're talking about so we can have a good discussion. I'm not asking for a term paper with footnotes. I mean seriously, do you actually believe Donald Trump would risk a paper cut trying to read a book, much less an Ayn Rand book? Be serious.

You're not even coming up with a good caricature of Objectivism. Try again.

The Prophet Dervish Z Sanders said...

tRump probably watched the 1949 movie and said "I'm like Gary Cooper". As for YOUR nonsense re Objectivism not being an ideology for narcissistic sociopaths - you are one. Clearly you enjoy insulting people you incorrectly perceive yourself to be more intelligent than. But all your comments do is prove you are a blithering idiot. I stand by my prior comment. I accurately summarized Objectivism.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

You spew a lot of belittling insults in, well, just about every comment you make here. Very narcissistic, certainly sociopathic. Are you an Objectivist?

Or does Objectivism have a set definition that you can't address because, you know, you don't have a clue about it.

The Prophet Dervish Z Sanders said...

I don't care if my hate for your hate offends you. Or if my response IN KIND to your insults offends you either. How could I be an Objectivist if I "don't have a clue about it"?

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

I'm not an Objectivist, but I don't go out of my way to "other" them as the enemy as you do. Perhaps you haven't made an impact in your war on Objectivism because you don't know what it is? You keep throwing all your weight into pushing a door clearly marked "pull." It's cartoonist.

Anonymous said...

*cartoonish

The Prophet Dervish Z Sanders said...

Ayn Rand: Life or death is man's only fundamental alternative. To live is his basic act of choice. If he chooses to live, a rational ethics will tell him what principles of action are required to implement his choice. If he does not choose to live, nature will take its course.

If a poor person does not have enough money to feed themselves and starves, or cannot afford health insurance and dies from a treatable condition, Rand does not care, as it was the poor persons choice to die.

I call that evil. Evil is the enemy of good.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

If a poor person does not have enough money to feed themselves, then he knows what he needs and will take action to acquire it. Or starve to death. He's either got a rational self-interest in survival, or he does not. And?

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Why is it "evil" that suicidal behavior results in death?

The Prophet Dervish Z Sanders said...

Jonathan Judaken says ...Jews Should Embrace Critical Race Theory. In 26 states, including Tennessee where I live and teach, lawmakers have introduced or passed legislation that preempts the teaching of Critical Race Theory (or CRT) in public schools.

Jews should resist this crusade. It is based on a manufactured moral panic... Instead, Jews should embrace critical race theory, knowing that some of its progenitors, along with contemporary practitioners like me, are Jews committed to fighting the entangled history of racisms in all their forms.

Anti-CRT laws are part of a global backlash designed to quell the reckoning with racism unleashed by the murder of George Floyd. Jews should oppose these laws and lean into the insights of critical race theory, some of which were shaped by Jewish antiracist theorists. We should do so because anti-Semitism is on the rise, we need to build coalitions in the struggle against it, and the resources of critical race theory can help us to analyze it more acutely. Ultimately, we should embrace critical race theory because the core Jewish narrative in the Bible is a story about the movement of a people from slavery to freedom, which is precisely the goal of Critical Race Theory.

Jonathan Judaken is the... author, editor, or co-editor of 6 books, he is currently completing a manuscript entitled, Critical Theories of Anti-Semitism: Confronting Modernity and Modern Judeophobia. Article published on Tikkun, which is a quarterly interfaith Jewish left-progressive website and magazine.

Beamishderp: ...then he knows what he needs and will take action to acquire it.

Apply for food stamps. But Objectivists are opposed to the existence of social safety net programs. Poor people are OPPOSED to the elimination of social safety net programs because they are NOT suicidal. Objectivists are homicidal. They want (as articulated by Rand) poor people to die by denying them help.

Ayn Rand: The fact that a man has no claim on others (i.e., that it is not their moral duty to help him...)

It is our moral duty to help others. Both individually and collectively through our government. Ayn Rand was wrong.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

It's my moral duty to kill thieves.

The Prophet Dervish Z Sanders said...

Are you a serial killer? There are a LOT of people who receive food stamps. They are all thieves it is your moral duty to murder? I hope you get the death penalty. No life behind bars mooching off the taxpayer for you!

Joe Conservative said...

Some post-Randian thought...

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Adam Smith wasn't wrong, he was just monogamous. He lived in a time before hedge funds and diversified portfolios. ;)

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Are you a serial killer? There are a LOT of people who receive food stamps. They are all thieves it is your moral duty to murder? I hope you get the death penalty. No life behind bars mooching off the taxpayer for you!

You're just not advanced enough in your socialism to feed, clothe, house, and give health care to the cotton pickers you train with a whip. All half-assed, you even let them wander off to the liquor store.