First, let’s get something out of the way. When an international superstar with a huge following like Kanye West does something bad—like, say, spew poison about Jews—it’s no longer just about him. It’s about his millions of followers and the Jew haters who have been awoken and empowered by a superstar.
Kanye can tell us he’s not a Jew hater but even if that were true, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that he used his global influence to spread dangerous antisemitic tropes about Jews. This is why the campaign to condemn and isolate him has been so heated—people understand the devastating impact of hate speech when it comes from celebrities and social influencers.
But in all of this bad news, there is still a silver lining that must be noted.
Imagine being in Germany in 1935, and a famous German musician decides to rant publicly against Jews, just as Kanye has done 87 years later in the United States. Can you even fathom the possibility that the German celebrity would be condemned and ostracized the way Kanye is being condemned and ostracized today?
Not a chance.
Within a week or two of his vile rants, Kanye has been dropped by his Hollywood agents (CAA), Adidas, Balenciaga, Foot Locker, Gap, Vogue, Universal Music and MRC, a film company that was about to release a documentary on his life. And that’s only the beginning.
When an ugly banner was unfurled in L.A. in support of West, the leader of the free world (President Biden) released a statement that “we need to call out antisemitism everywhere it rears its ugly head. These actions in LA are disgusting and should be condemned.”
So, as Jews bemoan the rise in antisemitism, it’s important that we don’t take for granted the widespread condemnations of this hatred. The flip side of Jew hatred is the support Jews are receiving across the country.
This is the kind of support our ancestors could only dream of.
