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The Student News Site of the Latin School of Chicago

The Forum

The Student News Site of the Latin School of Chicago

The Forum

Commentary on BVA’s Open Letter to the Community

Michael Davis

Last February, BVA’s Open Letter to the Community encouraged the Latin student body “to listen to black voices like Alice Walker, who teach us that remaining silent about toxic systems is just as toxic as the systems themselves.” When considering that Alice Walker views the Jewish people as a toxic system, this point falls somewhat flat.

If a student took the BVA letter’s advice and looked her up on Google, they would find immediate proof of her anti-Semitic views. The first result directs the student to Alice Walker’s blog, where inside they could find a poem of hers containing lines such as:

“Simply follow the trail of “The Talmud” as its poison belatedly winds its way into our collective consciousness.”

“Are Goyim (us) meant to be slaves of Jews, and not only that, but to enjoy it?”

“Are three year old (and a day) girls eligible for marriage and intercourse? Are young boys fair game for rape?”

(For those unaware, the Talmud represents the Jewish cultural laws. The second two lines are common misinterpretations of the document used to justify hatred towards the Jewish people.)

If the student then scrolled past her Wikipedia entry and clicked on the third link, entitled “Alice Walker, Answering Backlash, Praises Anti-Semitic Author” (New York Times), they would find Alice Walker double down on her praise of David Icke and his disgusting anti-Semitism. His book And the Truth Will Set You espouses ideas based on “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” a pamphlet used as a centerpiece of Nazi ideology and as a justification for the Holocaust.

There is no question that Alice Walker and her book, The Color Purple, represent an invaluable narrative in the African-American experience. But there is also no question that Alice Walker is an anti-Semite.

The normalization of such messages contributes to a growing problem in America. According the Anti-Defamation-League’s most recent report, anti-Semitic incidents surged by 60% in 2017 compared to 2016, the highest single-year rise in the ADL’s almost 40 years of measurement. In the infamous Charleston march of 2017, anti-Semitism walked along racism and homophobia; participants shouted “sieg heil,” waved flags emblazoned with swastikas, and chanted “Jews will not replace us.” In Pittsburgh last October, 11 Jews were murdered while celebrating Shabbat.

I understand, however, that these problems may feel far removed from reality. So, walk with the Jewish people into our synagogues and temples for the high holidays. Walk with us through security perimeters and metal detectors and countless police officers just to allow the Jewish people to pray in peace. No, Jews are not as marginalized as other minority groups. But oppression does not happen in isolation. A rise in anti-Semitism, is, at its root, a rise in hatred. And a rise in hatred is a secular concern.

Correction: This article was originally said to have been written by senior and co-editor-in-chief Olivia Baker. It is written by senior Michael Davis.

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  • A

    agoldenbMay 8, 2019 at 7:19 pm

    Michael, Robert, and Anwar thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on the letter, it was very insightful to read what you all had to say. Although I agree with many of your points, I feel that the discussion has been extended to talk about the “bigger picture” and we have lost sight of what provoked this discussion originally. The point of the BVA letter (at least my interpretation of it) was to bring light to and encourage Latin students to fight some of the social norms in our community by listening to and amplifying the voices of minority groups at our school. Unfortunately, through using a quote by Alice Walker (a known anti-Semite) the point of trying to become a community where minorities can feel represented and respected was lost. It is undeniable that Alice Walker did amazing things for the black community, but the letter was not JUST referring to amplifying the voices of black students here at Latin. Even if it was not the intention, using the quote of someone with anti-Semitic views in a letter that was supposed to support ALL minority students excludes and invalidates a specific population.
    At Latin we are fortunate enough to have a sizable Jewish population and, although this is fantastic, it does not reflect the reality that Jewish people are indeed an ethnic minority. The Jewish population in Chicago is roughly 7% and in the U.S Jews make up 1.4% of the entire population. As we all know these numbers would be significantly higher if it had not been for the heinous persecution of Jews during the Holocaust, a loss which the Jewish community will always mourn. Anti-Semitism is still incredibly prevalent today but is consistently ignored because it has been associated with the Nazi Party, an institution that dissolved in 1945. If only being a Nazi made you anti-Semitic, how is it that my Jewish grandpa, mother, friends, and even myself have been victims of hatred towards Jews? I point this out not to play the “who has it worse” game, but to emphasis that Jewish members of our community, just like other minority students, need your support and allyship.
    But back to my point; although I don’t believe that Alice Walker’s influential and important work should be forsaken because of her unsavory opinions, I feel she should not have been quoted in a letter about equity in a space where members of the very group she openly dislikes reside. I strongly believe that a quote by someone who believes/believed in equality for all would have more accurately captured the message the BVA letter meant to convey. Quoting MLK would have been just as problematic in this letter due to his homophobic and sexist beliefs, but that does not mean he is not a champion for black rights or that everything he did is void. We as a community recognize that many of our heroes had beliefs that would not have been admirable in 2019 (for example H.P Lovecraft and Charles Dickens), but instead of “cancelling” them (or letting them just get away with hatred) we can learn from their faults to not only better ourselves but our understanding and support of one another.

    Reply
  • M

    mwilliamMay 6, 2019 at 7:59 pm

    Dear Latin Students,
    What I can’t wrap my mind around is the fact that the issue of someone holding anti-semitic views, yet an integral part of the black community is given more fire and attention than the Kavanaugh hearings or the facts that our history classes are geared towards WHITE Americans and the history of black people and people of color are offered as electives. Alice Walker may have been the wrong person to quote, but her words hold truths regarding the lessons we learned about black voices. Her holding anti-semitic views shouldn’t interfere with the overall message of the original letter. It makes no sense. Yes, I agree that anti-semitic views of any type are a detriment to our society and how we interact with people, but why don’t we give this much attention to issues pertaining a group of people from more marginalized groups of our society? Why is it that every time we make announcements about workshops towards improving our community, only a few white kids show up and a majority of the POC population in this school are getting a repeat lesson about allyship and what it means to be a POC in a predominantly white institution when we live this reality on a daily. Collective action is the theme this year, but it’s pointless if we can’t come together and fight for issues pertaining directly to the marginalized community at Latin.
    In my English 12 class, Punching the Clock, we had a discussion about separating the artists from the art. If we are putting Alice Walker under fire for holding anti-Semitic views, it would only make sense to put every artists or historical figure under fire because EVERYBODY has problematic values that have been influenced by the experiences they lived through and the situations they’ve encountered. Where should we draw the line between important and impactful messages and problematic values held by these writers?
    Let’s not forget that a lot of the people we idolize in history held a lot of views we may all not agree with. MLK Jr. and Malcolm X were both homophobic and every founding father of America was racist and had slaves, yet we still hold them to a high pedestal, even creating national holidays for these people. Let’s use this opportunity to think about our own values and in what ways we can practice what we preach, because from the student of color standpoint, this is a big F YOU to our hard work to promote and push for diversity and inclusivity for our peers and future students of color.
    With love and a lil frustration,
    Anwar Mohammed

    Reply
    • M

      mwilliamMay 6, 2019 at 8:00 pm

      Note— this was posted by Margo because Anwar’s account is having a technical malfunction.

      Reply
    • L

      lmccutch2May 6, 2019 at 9:09 pm

      THIS is what we need to hear and act upon. Thank you for saying this.

      Reply
  • R

    Robert!! :)May 2, 2019 at 11:09 pm

    Interesting perspective, Michael! Great article! 🙂
    But by your logic, what do you propose we do about writers like H.P. Lovecraft and Charles Dickens? Their works are respected, but one quick google search would leave no question about their racist views. Yet, I doubt there would be as much public outcry against them if they were quoted. I agree with you, normalization of anti-Semitism (or any form of discrimination) is a problem that we should all be conscious of, especially considering the spike in anti-Semitism in the past few years. But it is important to separate art from the artist. Walker’s literature is not Alice Walker. That doesn’t mean we should completely ignore her discriminatory actions. We should be aware of them, and talk about them just as you have here. But the purpose of the BVA letter was not to promote Alice Walker, but rather the message behind her work, just as reading Oliver Twist is about learning how to analyze text rather than promoting Dicken’s racist views.
    I do want to second your ending statement. A rise in hatred is something we should all be concerned about.

    Reply
    • E

      earonsonMay 3, 2019 at 8:00 am

      I agree with your point, Robert. We learn about our founding fathers when many of them owned slaves and were racist. I think discussions like these are still really important to have in the community. Thank you, Michael, for bringing up this crucial conversation.

      Reply
    • F

      ftemponeMay 3, 2019 at 1:50 pm

      Thank you for this, Robert, and for engaging in meaningful, intellectual dialogue.

      Reply
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Commentary on BVA’s Open Letter to the Community