bell hooks

Dec 16

she taught so many of us lessons of love & strength & connection & safety that we will carry into eternity, beyond time & space, beyond all that is known.

i'll return to these lessons of love. but she also taught me about solidarity. about my own identity as a jew.

the following are excerpts from these passages, speaking to the relationship between anti-black racism & antisemitism in the fight against yt supremacy.

this is just one of endless examples of her passion and clarity, her seamless & timeless analysis.

"solidarity between black [people] and white jews must be mutual. it cannot be based on a notion of black people as needy victims that white jews ‘help.’ it cannot be based on gratitude extended by black [people] to white jews for those historical moments when they have been steadfast comrades in struggle furthering black liberation. it has to be rooted in a recognition on the part of both groups of shared history, shared struggle, and the ways in which our past and future destinies both connect and diverge. it has to be rooted in an ongoing political recognition that white supremacy relies on the maintenance of anti-black racism and antisemitism, hence there will never be a time when these two struggles will not be connected.

no matter how many or how strong the ties jewish political parties make with white south africa, thereby condoning the maintenance of white supremacy, this reality will remain. wherever there is white supremacy, there will be antisemitism and racism. the failure of black [people] and white jews to engage in critical dialogue that does not reflect prevailing racist hierarchy has meant that it is unclear in what context either group can be critical of the other without being labeled racist or antisemitic.

where is the context where black [people] can come together with white jews and talk critically about jewish appropriation and commodification of black culture? where is the context where jews can come together with black non-jews and talk about the sense of betrayal of a historical legacy of solidarity? what is the context in which black people can be critical of zionist policies that condone the colonization and exploitation of palestinians? where is the context in which jews can question black folks about our attitudes and opinions about israel and jewish nationalism? unless these contexts exist we will not be able to create the kind of critical thinking and writing that can challenge and transform black antisemitism or white jewish racism.

targeting our critiques solely at antisemitic black leaders (who represent a small fragment of black populations) does not enable masses of blacks and white jews to understand both the historical and present-day connections among the growth of white supremacy, the development of antisemitic thought and practice globally, and the spread of anti-black racism. it is this knowledge that would enable folks from both groups to understand why solidarity between us must be nurtured and sustained.

black people are not more responsible for eradicating strains of antisemitism in black life than in the culture as a whole. however we must stand against antisemitism wherever we encounter it. it is the task facing any of us who work for freedom. to honor our bond of inescapable mutuality, black people and white jews must share in the collective work of creating theory and practice that can counter the antisemitic biases of the culture, in whatever location those biases speak themselves. working to eradicate antisemitism we are equally working to end racism.”

bell hooks: ”keeping a legacy of shared struggle” from "killing rage: ending racism” (212-214)