By Talia Perlstein ‘24 In July, Desean Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles posted on his Instagram story falsely attributing a quote to Hitler insulting Jews in America. Jews “will blackmail America,” Jackson wrote. “[They] will extort America, their plan for world domination won’t work if the Negroes know who they are. The white citizens of America will be terrified to know that all this time they’ve been mistreating and discriminating and lynching the Children of Israel.” Jackson also posted a video by Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, who is known for his antisemitic comments and actions. Jackson captioned the video, writing, “[Farrakhan is] powerful, I hope everyone got a chance to watch this! Don’t be blinded. Know what’s going on!”
This did not go over well with many. Committees such as the American Jewish Committee reached out to Jackson asking for an immediate apology. Jackson eventually apologized. Another act of antisemitism happened this July when retired NBA guare Dwayne Wade tweeted his support for Nick Cannon, who was fired from Viacom after saying antisemitic remarks on his podcast. “We are with you, keep leading,” Wade tweeted to Cannon but quickly deleted the tweet after facing criticism. “I want to clarify my now-deleted tweet,” Wade tweeted later that day. “I was not supporting or condoning what Nick Cannon specifically said, but I had expressed my support of him owning the content and brand he helped create… I was too quick to respond without being fully informed about his hurtful antisemitic remarks. As you all know I have ZERO tolerance for any hate speech!” These two incidents were substantial issues, but the bigger problem was the silence from the majority of the sports community who did nothing to defend the Jewish community against these antisemetic attacks. However, there were a few individuals who spoke up to defend the Jewish community and call out the players for what they did wrong. Football players such as Zach Banner of the Steelers and Julian Edelman, a Jewish member of the Patriots, both responded to Desan Jackson’s comments, calling him out for his antisemtic words. Banner uploaded a video to his Instagram story explaining his thoughts on the situation. “We need to understand Jewish people deal with the same amount of hate and similar hardships and hard times,” Banner responded. “When we talk about Black Lives Matter and talk about elevating ourselves, we can’t do that while stepping on the back of other people to elevate ourselves.” Edelman used this as a teaching moment, offering to take Jackson to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC in an attempt to educate Jackson on the oppression that Jews have faced. Edelman also told Jackson that he would accompany him to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC in hopes of being educated by Jackson on the African American community. While Banner and Edelman specifically responded to Jackson’s comments, former NBA player Kareen Abdul-Jabar called out other people and players for ignoring these antisemetic comments. “Recent incidents of antisemetic tweets and posts from sports and entertainment celebrities are a very troubling omen for the future of the Black Lives Matter movement, but so too is the shocking lack of massive indignation,” Abdul-Jabar wrote in The Hollywood Reporter. “Given the new woke-fullness in Hollywood and the sports world, we expected more passionate public outrage.” The recent instances of antisemitism in the sports community serve to remind that there is still an immense amount of antisemitism in this world and it is not going to stop anytime soon. It is our job as a Jewish community to combat the hate and come out stronger on the other side. Comments are closed.
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EditorsArielle Karni Archives
December 2024
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