Dennis Prager’s ‘5 Arguments Against “America Is a Racist Country” ’
Dennis Prager once again takes a hot-button issue and uses a hyperbolic bulldozer when a more nuanced scalpel would suffice (“5 Arguments Against ‘America Is a Racist Country,’ ” July 24). Let’s take his opening paragraph, “The left-wing allegation America is a racist country is the greatest national libel since the Blood Libel against the Jews. America is, in fact, the least racist, most multiracial and multiethnic country in world history.”
This is an outrageous, disingenuous argument with regard to “Blood Libel,” since there is zero evidence that Jews actually sacrificed Christian children, besides analogizing “Jews,” which is not a country, to America, which is. There is historical evidence that America practiced race-based government policies, from literal state laws, “separate but equal,” including placing only Japanese Americans (and their children and grandchildren) in internment camps.
Prager, who was born in 1948, was obviously old enough to be cognizant that when the civil rights legislation passed — everyone who was racist the day before it passed didn’t magically disappear. Nor did using race as election-winning strategies disappear. George Wallace ran for president in 1968 on an openly racist campaign. After that, campaigns used race as dog whistles, explained by Republican strategist Lee Atwater as the “Southern Strategy” in a 1981 interview, where candidates used terms such as “forced busing,” and “states’ rights” to capture the Wallace voters. This was Richard Nixon’s “Silent Majority.” A term, interestingly enough, that has been picked up by President Donald Trump in his current campaign.
Before the pandemic, I had the opportunity to visit George Washington’s Mount Vernon. There is now a large exhibit devoted to Washington’s slaves and their lives. Learning about their treatment — from life to death (most are buried in unmarked graves) — gives context to our historical figures. Our society can have intelligent discussions about the meaning of race throughout our history, including our current climate without thumping our chest and declaring ourselves as the “least racist, most multiracial and multiethnic in world history.”
Mark Treitel, Los Angeles
Identifying flawed logic in Dennis Prager’s various polemics could be a full-time job, but seeing in the July 24 edition that David Suissa used his Page 2 pulpit to not only echo the latest but run with it, perhaps it deserves a little critical review.
First, Prager calls this “the greatest national libel since the Blood Libel against the Jews.” Libel is a statement that is demonstrably false, such as the accusation that Jews prepared their matzo using the blood of Christian children. He then goes on to admit that the racism claim cannot be empirically proven or disproven, immediately removing it from the realm of libel, let alone one so nefarious, baseless and consequential as the Blood Libel.
Four out of five of his arguments against this claim cite proponents’ need to rely on false, historical or minor instances of racism. While the emphasis on slavery is intended to track the country’s racist origins, one need not go so far back. Jim Crow was not officially abolished until the 1960s and continued unofficially for years afterward. I am assuming that Prager will at least admit that much of America during that time was racist. Where does he think that racism went? Was it magically removed by President Dwight Eisenhower’s federal troops in 1957 or President Lyndon Johnson’s pen in 1964?
I wonder what Prager would say if his same arguments were made to argue that anti-Semitism does not exist today. Surely there are false claims of anti-Semitism and complaints of microaggressions. And certainly Jews are justifiably obsessed with never forgetting recent tragedies against our people. Does all that belie the enduring anti-Semitism in this county and around the world?
His fifth argument, that Black people still voluntarily immigrate to this country, implies that if America is racist, it must be a terrible place to live. On the contrary. The U.S. offers freedom and opportunities unavailable in many other places and is clearly not the most racist country in the world, but that does not mean there is no room for improvement.
I’m sorry if Prager takes offense to that statement, but when it comes to people taking offense, he will simply have to get in line.
Joel Elkins, West Hollywood
Dennis Prager used the word “lie” six times lambasting the left and fears the death of American civilization. But the American civilization as we know it today did not fall out of the sky in 1776 and remain constant ever since. Slavery was allowed to fester until Abraham Lincoln became president. After him came segregation, followed by discrimination, as shown in the recent killing of at least four unarmed Black people by white police officers. Statistically, killing four human beings may not be significant but it is more than enough to inflame strong emotions evoked by those killings.
The residue of slavery, segregation and discrimination still percolate in the American soul — both Black and white. The Jews dedicate eight days every year to the slavery their ancestors suffered 3,400 years ago. These eight days are the season of liberation and freedom. Although we may have a Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in January and Black History month in February, still the descendants of former slaves must live side by side with the descendants of former slave owners and slave masters. This is the challenge of the American civilization as far as race relations are concerned.
Ken Lautman, via email
I think that Dennis Prager conveniently chooses to ignore the American sin of institutional racism, starting with banking practices and discrimination in housing, which has disproportionately affected Black and Latino Americans for decades. I invite Prager to visit the Museum of Tolerance (when it reopens) and view the “Para Todos Los Ninos” (“For All the Children”) exhibit. It tells the real story of Mendez v. Westminster, a federal court decision in 1947 that ended segregation in California schools and was a precedent for the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court case. Prager needs to study American history.
Ann C. Hayman, Los Angeles
Dennis Prager responds:
With one exception, none of these letters responds to any of my five arguments. They all confirm my basic point: There is so little racism in America, the leftist smear of America relies either on trivia (“Uncle Ben,” “Aunt Jemima,” “master bedrooms,” etc.); on constant race hoaxes and false alarms (Jussie Smollett, a “noose” directed at NASCAR’S lone Black driver, Bubba Wallace, etc.); or on the American past.
All these letter writers focus on the American past. Do they not realize that this only confirms my point?
Mark Treitel wrote, “America, as a country, practiced race-based government policies …” “George Wallace ran for president in 1968 on an openly racist campaign.” “[C]ampaigns used race as dog whistles, explained by Republican strategist Lee Atwater as the Southern Strategy in a 1981 interview.”
Nothing about America since an interview in 1981 about a presidential race that took place in 1968.
Joel Elkins wrote, “Jim Crow was not officially abolished until the 1960s and continued unofficially for years afterward.”
No examples since the 1960s. Elkins also wrote, “I wonder what Prager would say if his same arguments were made to argue that anti-Semitism does not exist today?”
Does Elkins not recognize the difference between denying racism exists and denying that modern America is a racist country? He adds that there is “enduring anti-Semitism in this country.” Would he similarly libel America as an anti-Semitic country? Is there a better non-Jewish country for Jews on this planet?
In the 1940s, when there was considerably more anti-Semitism in America, the Lubavitcher Rebbe called America a medina shel chesed, a righteous country, because he was wise. He compared America to all other countries, not to Utopia.
Elkins’ response to my question as to why 3 million Black people have immigrated from Africa and the Caribbean in the past 20 years to a systemically racist country was, “The U.S. offers freedom and opportunities unavailable in many other places and is clearly not the most racist country in the world, but that does not mean there is no room for improvement.”
“Room for improvement” is a far cry from the left’s “racist” label.
Ken Lautman also is preoccupied with the past — the first 89 of America’s 244 years. He wrote, “Slavery was allowed to fester until Abraham Lincoln became president,” and “The Jews dedicate eight days every year to the history of slavery their ancestors suffered 3,400 years ago.”
Perhaps Lautman is unfamiliar with the Torah’s injunction to the Jews against hating Egyptians. That law was given right after hundreds of years of slavery and attempted genocide. Americans — Black and white — would do well to heed the Torah’s advice.
Ann C. Hayman also references the past, writing, “Mendez v. Westminster, a federal court decision in 1947 that ended segregation in California schools … was a precedent for the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court case. Prager needs to study American history.”
Hayman needs to study the American present. For American Jews to participate in the America-hatred permeating the left is a classic example of ingratitude.
Now it’s your turn. Don’t be shy, submit your letter to the editor. Letters should be no more than 200 words and must include a valid name and city. The Journal reserves the right to edit all letters. letters@jewishjournal.com.
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