As a gentile who is struggling to be responsible in working against anti-Semitism, I was challenged by an opinion piece in the May 13 issue of j.
The apology of the president of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) for their campaign that used imagery from the Holocaust raised questions for me about gentile privilege. When we gentiles are active in social-justice work that impacts Jews, it seems we have not yet thought to consider our own position as part of the Christian or secular Christian majority of America and Europe. Even when deciding something as crucial to the Jewish community as representing the Holocaust, at times, we do not consider our impact on the Jewish community. Instead, we go to Jews who support our position and then hide behind their approval.
The apology of Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA, is explicit in detailing such use of supportive Jews. “We were careful to use Jewish authors and scholars and quotes from Holocaust victims and survivors.”
Without having any specific demographic information about PETA supporters and members, I think it is safe to assume its majority is white and gentile. Certainly, its president is. Yet, the organization felt comfortable mounting the “Holocaust on Your Plate” campaign, which echoed the Nazi ideology that Jews do not deserve human respect. The organization may want to make the argument that no one can be given more respect than we give animals, or that there is a causal relationship between slaughtering animals and mass murder of people. But the fact remains that PETA’s Holocaust campaign ignored that the gentile majority of PETA is socially and culturally connected to the perpetrators of the Holocaust — and to the millennium of abuses of Jews before that. Sixty years do not erase centuries of prejudice.
As a white woman who has learned to see my privilege and to respond constructively when confronted with challenges of racism, I have thought about my relationship with those in minorities. I am aware that I can always find a person of color who will agree with my actions. But if those actions are challenged as racist, the only real way for me to deepen my understanding is to seriously examine the issues and my beliefs. I cannot give up my white gentile privilege. But I can learn to be as responsible and caring as possible while making my decisions. Applying these same anti-racist principles to the Jewish community has some singular challenges for me, and I think, for other activist gentiles.
Many of us from Christian communities are not used to the diversity of opinion and orientation that exists within the Jewish community. The strong Jewish tradition of fostering questioning and challenging injustice may put us in contact with particular Jews, even groups of Jews, who are expressing a decidedly minority opinion. My point is not that gentiles only become active in ways that are acceptable to the greatest number of Jews. Rather, it is to understand that we are making decisions from our own privileged position, and that Jews, whether in our organizations or in the larger Jewish community, are in a very different position. My point is also to challenge us gentiles to explore the questions, “How can I show solidarity with the entire Jewish community, not just with those who work in my activist circle? How can I act responsibly with the understanding that anti-Semitism, like other traditional prejudices, is still a powerful oppressive force?”
It would have been just as irresponsible for PETA to distribute a photo of Matthew Sheppard’s body as it was left tied to the fence by homophobic attackers and to juxtapose that with an image of ducks hanging in a poultry market. Or to reproduce a photograph of a lynching next to a photo of carcasses in a meat locker. It is irresponsible because these oppressive attitudes toward minorities — anti-Semitism, homophobia and racism — are all still alive in the American and world public. Such visuals reinforce these attitudes.
I believe it is time for those of us in the gentile majority to step up and expect more of ourselves. Particularly in this complex world of overlapping social-justice issues, we must see our actions in a large social and historical environment. In order to avoid reinforcing deadly bigotries to advance our political agendas, I am advocating solidarity with all traditionally oppressed people. For this to be real, we have to learn about all prejudices and care about all communities. We have to question ourselves and examine the impact of our activism, despite political and social complexity.
Judy Andreas is a conference coordinator and homecare attendant who lives in Richmond. She is developing a national organization of non-Jewish allies challenging anti-Semitism.