The privilege to participate in conversations about Antisemitism

Answering Dave Chappelle's question about why it's so hard to talk about "The Jews".

Photo by Bogomil Mihaylov on Unsplash

In his controversial 2021 Netflix special, “The Closer”, Dave Chappelle pleaded with his audience not to “abort DaBaby”, referring to a rapper whose career ended suddenly after he made homophobic comments on stage earlier that year and not because he shot and killed someone in a North Carolina, Walmart in 2018. He was making a point about how quick we have become to shut down discussion of difficult topics when someone says something offensive, rather than continuing to try and find ways to engage with uncomfortable material.

I am not a Dave Chappelle fan. I don’t find him particularly funny, but that’s okay, I don’t need to. However, when controversy swept the headlines about his Netflix special, morbid curiosity enticed me to watch. I walked away thinking that despite all the attention the special had received for its comments about the transgender community, it was far more Antisemitic than it was homophobic. But I didn’t mind, not really. Comedy can be edgy and offensive, and just because I don’t find something funny doesn’t automatically mean that it’s a problem. 

When Chappelle appeared on SNL on Saturday, it spread like wildfire across Jewish Twitter and in news outlets like The Forward, so I watched it.  I didn’t find it funny, but instead, varying levels of offensive - particularly the moment when he insinuates that there is an attempt to blame Antisemitism on the American Black community. But that’s okay. I don’t need to find it funny. I also have every right to be offended by his monologue. But my not finding something funny or thinking it is offensive on some level is not a litmus test for whether it is or is not promoting Antisemitism. So in that same vein, I’m going to take a page out of Chappelle’s playbook, and not abort DaBaby. I’m not going to say we should cancel Chappelle or say that he just shouldn’t have said those things. I think he could have read the room better given the moment, but fine.

Chappelle wants to know why we can’t just have a conversation about that dangerous phrase that has been trending on Twitter since Kanye said he wanted to go “death con three” and Kyrie Irving decided to promote Antisemitic conspiracies on Instagram: The Jews. 

So, Mr. Chappelle, this one’s for you. Let’s talk about how conversations about Antisemitism tend to go, and why sometimes, the only option left is calling for silence, even if it’s never the option we want. 

During my time on a campus, I reached out to have numerous conversations about Antisemitism. I did this wanting to have a discussion that would be uncomfortable, not just for the person I was talking to, but for myself as well. I wanted to talk about why the Jewish community is viewed as being overrepresented in certain industries, and how this contributes to myths of Jewish power and control. I wanted to talk about the difference between acknowledging that there are a lot of Jews in the television and film industry, and saying that because there is a substantial Jewish presence, they must be, as a collective, asserting some kind of nefarious control. Myself and the other Jewish students I worked alongside came to the table ready to have a difficult conversation about Israel and discuss how we can acknowledge and seek to address the Palestinian experience without perpetuating misinformation or calling for the destruction of the State of Israel. We weren’t unique in any of this. On and off campuses all over the world, Jews want to have difficult conversations about Antisemitism. Very few people are actually letting us have them.

Difficult conversations about Antisemitism, just like any other form of racism are the way forward. If we just decide that people simply can never say anything that pushes a line, then all we are doing is allowing the fringes (most likely online discussion forums) to dictate opinions behind closed doors. We are all better off taking the approach of coming to the table to talk about Antisemitism with our ears open, ready to really listen to and think about the information and perspectives being presented.

In most instances, that’s not what happens. 

Off the bat I need to say that while not all Jews are experts in Antisemitism, just like how despite being female I am not an expert in feminism, Jewish experiences should take precedence in these conversations. If a significant portion of the Jewish community is telling you that it’s “b-A-gel” and not “b-ah-gel”, stop talking and actually listen.

I am happy to sit down and have a conversation about why Israel is not an apartheid state or committing a genocide, but that the experiences of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are nevertheless a serious problem that needs to be addressed. I am happy to sit down and have a conversation about why Israel is not a colonial endeavour and why it’s incorrect and offensive to call Jews White Supremacists. But my willingness to do this comes with a caveat that is the product of having had this conversation with professors, administrators, and current or former classmates one too many times. This is that I’m not interested into talking to a wall, and more often than not I have been. If the person I am talking to is just going to nod and smile and then when I finish repeat BDS talking points back to me, then we’re not having a conversation we’re just wasting time. 

The goal is not to silence everyone who says something offensive, but I also don’t believe that freedom of speech needs to extend to marches down the street chanting “Jews will not replace us”. Before anyone comes calling censorship, the line between Chappelle and Charlottesville is just not that grey. 

As I stated above, silencing every Antisemitic comment is not the goal, and is likely to be counterproductive as it cuts off the effort to promote education combatting Antisemitism to the groups who need it most, in addition to being likely to make those who hold these sentiments dig themselves deeper into the black hole. 

But, being invited to engage with the Jewish community on these issues is a little like getting a driver's license - it's more of a privilege then a right, and maintaining that privilege requires following the very simple rule that you must come to the table open and ready to listen. It is only when a refusal to do this has consistently been demonstrated that it becomes necessary to stop having that conversation, rescind that privilege.

Having to say to university administrators that faculty demonstrated that they were simply incapable of having a balanced dialogue on Antisemitism or Israel was never a goal, but it was a place where we found ourselves after months of explaining the same things over and over to closed ears. And it’s at that point that sometimes there is no other choice but to say that now we’re going to tell you that you can’t talk about the Jewish community in the Diaspora or in Israel any more. In saying that we need to shut down these discussions, the Jewish community is under no illusion that we are in any way fixing the problem, now it’s damage control - we can’t fix it, but we’re not going to let you make it worse.

It's not that we can't talk about "The Jews" (though chances are if you’re looking over your shoulder before you say that, then you can’t), but that Jews should not be expected, as we currently so often are, to have that conversation with people who are not listening to what we are saying and who, at the end, will reject everything we put forward in favour of long-standing prejudices without a moment's hesitation.