Don't ask, don't tell

Neither Democrats nor the media wants to talk about past -- or current -- tensions between blacks and Jews.

By Jake Tapper

Aug 16, 2000 | It's tough to imagine this year's Republican National Convention featuring a prime-time speaker who once said that that "Zionism is a kind of poisonous weed that is choking Judaism." Or that he was "sick and tired of hearing about the Holocaust." Or that traditional Democratic support for Israel is because of "the Jewish element in the party ... a kind of glorified form of bribery." And certainly not if he had ever referred to Jews as "Hymies" and New York as "Hymietown."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, of course, has made all of these comments, and more. Jackson said those things in his 30s and 40s, and has since apologized for them. But his speech at the Democratic Convention Tuesday evening is at the very least an interesting example of the double standard that clearly exists in the media's -- and the Democratic Party's -- sensitivity to anti-Semitism.

This is even more resonant against the backdrop of Vice President Al Gore's selection of Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman as his running mate, the first Jew on a major party ticket.

There is a lot to admire about Jackson and his work, which at times are remarkable in their selflessness. And Jackson, as with all of us, should be taken at his word when it comes to his regret at the "Hymietown" comments.

But while Jackson has been forgiven by his party and the press, I wonder how forgiving anyone would be if Gov. George W. Bush had such a long history of questioning people's integrity because of their religion.

In 1973, for instance, Jackson condemned then President Richard Nixon as being insensitive to the poor, since "four out of five [of Nixon's top advisors] are German Jews and their priorities are on Europe and Asia." In 1979, Jackson said that he had "seen very few Jewish reporters that have the capacity to be objective about Arab affairs."

None of this has occurred in a vacuum. According to a 1998 Anti-Defamation League poll of Americans' attitudes about Jews, African-Americans are three times more likely to hold latently anti-Semitic views than whites. And, according to ADL director Abraham Foxman, these attitudes in the black community cut across age and economic and educational backgrounds. In the white community, such views are held chiefly by those who are older and less educated.

One certainly has to wonder whether Jackson, through his past comments, has in any way lent legitimacy to anti-Semitism in the black community. Jackson says that he has grown from the days of his anti-Semitic comments, and he has lauded the selection of Lieberman. But other black leaders have taken a different path. Last Friday, Louis Farrakhan questioned Lieberman's allegiance to the United States, asserting erroneously that "Lieberman, as an Orthodox Jew, is also a dual citizen of Israel." Israel's law of return allows Jews citizenship, but that is hardly the same thing as possessing dual citizenship.

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