SCRIPT-
For my piece of propaganda to discuss for this LEAP Project, I chose Kanye West’s recent antisemitic remarks and the impact that they have had on the Jewish people. I have previously mentioned that I am Jewish, and antisemitism is a social cause that is extremely important to me. I was raised to be proud of my culture, and it is very disheartening to learn that Jewish children today have trouble freely practicing their religion and culture without scrutiny. After the Holocaust, many survivors immigrated to the United States to freely practice their religion and culture. Many northeastern parts of the United States, such as the suburbs of New York, Boston, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia have developed a large population of Jewish people over the years, which has made these areas a safe space for Jewish people to practice their religion. However, especially in recent years, the amount of anti-semitic hate crime has skyrocketed.
In October, award winning and record setting artist Kanye West began posting antisemitic remarks on Twitter. His following on the platform is larger than the entirety of the Jewish population remaining from the Holocaust. With the remarks stating that he wants to go “Death Con 3” on Jewish people, and claiming Black people can’t be antisemitic. This became a direct attack on Jewish people, as well as continuous remarks idolizing Adolf Hitler, and saying that he ‘likes’ him, and saying he ‘did nothing wrong’. As well as this, he states that he believes in a Jewish mafia and says that he likes learning about Hitler specifically. He also later stated that he doesn’t like to associate Nazis with the word evil.
Since these remarks have been said, antisemitic rates have spiked. The FBI have been investigating new cases of antisemitism every day, and there are synagogues around the country receiving death, shooting, and bomb threats daily. As well as this, many higher education institutions have had threats regarding antisemitism, and students vandalizing things with quotes saying “Ye is right.” The American Jewish committee curated a survey regarding antisemitism in the United States and its rise. 80% of Jewish adults believe that the United States has become increasingly antisemitic. In conclusion, the antisemitic propaganda promoted by public figure Kanye West is extremely damaging to the Jewish people, especially when his following is larger than the entire Jewish population.
REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Anti Semitism is a social cause that is very near and dear to my heart; it always has been. I am 100% Jewish and was raised in a reform household. My great-grandparents escaped Europe before Hitler came to power. The harsh reality is if they didn’t do so, I likely would not exist as they would have been murdered. That is an idea that makes me personally uncomfortable, and I become increasingly more uncomfortable about it as rates of antisemitism grow in the United States. Since I was a teenager, I have witnessed the rates of antisemitism rise more and more each month. My teenage years were filled with hearing about different synagogues receiving threats, violent acts of antisemitism in the area, and within a short amount of time, when I was once taught as a child to be proud of my Judaism, I am now often encouraged by my family to publicly hide it. This scares me, especially because of the results from the Holocaust. After World War II, many survivors came to the United States to freely express their religion. When researching Kanye West’s connotations and the amount of antisemitic hate crimes that have begun since, I was floored. Especially with knowing that Kanye’s following is larger than the entirety of the Jewish population, this is very alarming. As well as this, Kanye West stating that he believes in a Jewish mafia and says that he likes learning about Hitler specifically makes other people believe in this false stereotype and think that fascination with the extermination of a ethnic/religious group is okay, which makes the rates of this increase. As well as this, 69% of Jewish adults have seen antisemitic propaganda online in the past year, and 82% of the general United States adult population. 89% of the Jewish people who participated in this survey feel as if antisemitism is a continuous rising issue today. As well as this, 69% of the Jewish people who participated felt as if they were a target to something antisemitic online. As well as this, 68% of American adults feel that antisemitism is an issue, and 64% say that the incidents have increased over the past year. The results of this survey came back right as these threats on synagogues began to rise in December. With antisemitic propaganda being promoted by a figure as large and influential as Kanye West, people will begin to want to follow him. Kanye West is one the Top 50 musical artists in the world. With his platform and influence itself being as large as it is, himself building and promoting propaganda like this was going to immediately condone anyone else to behave this way. Another point that is important to bring up is that Kanye West’s children have Jewish cousins, which makes this seem all the more acceptable than it is, and makes the issue much more dangerous for Jewish people worldwide. This is because relatives with antisemitic intentions will think it is okay to act in an antisemitic manner towards their relatives. Addressing this issue was very important to me, especially because this rise in antisemitism was completely fueled by propaganda.
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