Why the Rise of Anti-Americanism Is Bad for the Jews

For as long as I can remember, Jews have positioned themselves as the “canary in the coal mine.” If they come for us, we tell anyone who will listen, eventually they will come for you.

It was our way of universalizing the plague of anti-Semitism, and our insurance policy in case Jew-hatred alone didn’t suffice to move people.

It also was, and continues to be, largely true. Hate is a disease — it rarely stops with one group. Since the Jews have been history’s most enduring scapegoat, hate often starts with us before spreading its venom to other groups.

In America, the “canary in the coal mine” has been one of our most trusted arguments: “This is not just our fight; it’s also America’s fight.” “Anti-Semitism is bad for the Jews, but it’s also bad for America.” And so on.

Today, the tables are turning. A hatred bigger than anti-Semitism has sneaked up on us. It’s anti-Americanism.

When it comes to hatred, more and more people are hating “America first.” They’re disgusted with our Founders because they were white slave owners; they’re disgusted with racism, police brutality, President Trump, racial inequities, globalism, corrupt politicians, white privilege, and on and on.

The problem is not the individual hatreds per se, but that the cumulative effect has been to transfer the hatred to America itself. Of course, in the Trump era, there are two stark Americas: If you’re a Trump hater, you hate the America that loves Trump; if you’re a Trump lover, you hate the America that hates Trump.

Either way, the words “America” and “hate” are now tightly bound. Regardless of which side you’re on, there’s no way this is good for the Jews.

Because Jews are so integrated throughout American society, whether we are Democrat or Republican, we’re seen as quintessentially American. Hating America, then, is never too far from hating Jews. You can bet that when they come for America, they’ll come for us, too.

Just what we needed, right? Another reason to hate the Jews — they’re so American.

Just what we needed, right? Another reason to hate the Jews — they’re so American.

Would Jew-hatred exist without America-hatred? That goes without saying. We’re talking, after all, about humanity’s most resilient hatred. The larger point, however, is that the rise of anti-Americanism is an alarming phenomenon that can make things infinitely worse for the Jews.

A country widely portrayed and perceived as incorrigibly racist is worthy only of contempt. If Jews are seen as closely aligned with this country, no amount of social justice protests will appease the haters.

American Jews of all political stripes must start a new movement. We must help redeem the American promise. Instead of maligning the American past to create a hateful present, we must struggle in the present to create a better future.

American Jews of all political stripes must start a new movement. We must help redeem the American promise.

We can follow the lead of an activist named Martin Luther King Jr. Rather than tear down our Founders and feed anti-Americanism, he found it more useful to hold them accountable.

“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence,” King said in his “I Have a Dream” speech, “they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable Rights’ of ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’”

King was not calling for a rewrite of American history. He knew that most of our Founding Fathers owned slaves; that slavery was the horrible stain on the American story; that 600,000 men died during the Civil War, which led to President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation; and that a century after that proclamation, racism and discrimination against Blacks was still rampant.

He knew all that, yet he still honored the words of our Founders. He saw something today’s protest leaders seem to ignore — that in the founding words of the American Revolution were planted the seeds for future progress, the seeds of hope.

King must have seen that fueling anti-Americanism would have crushed hope. So he fought the injustice of his day with the wisdom not to undermine the foundational promise of America.

Similarly, in his farewell address, President Barack Obama looked to the future when he spoke with optimism of “the great gift that our Founders gave to us. The freedom to chase our individual dreams through our sweat, and toil and imagination.”

Can Jews demonstrate the same vision and wisdom? Can we transcend our political differences to honor the American ideals that have contributed so much to our success? Can we combat anti-Americanism by repairing the world while renewing the love for America’s promise?

If it’s always been in America’s interest to fight anti-Semitism, today it’s also in the Jews’ interest to fight anti-Americanism. More than ever, they have become two sides of the same coin. Fighting one means fighting both. 

The Jews, that ancient people the world could never leave alone, are no longer the only canaries in the coal mine. We have been joined by America.