As progressives now see it, Jews are “privileged whites”
Are Jews white?
I’ve been thinking about that question a lot lately as the terms “white privilege” and “white supremacy” have become more and more common in the public discourse. For decades, a white supremacist was a person either affiliated with a group like the Ku Klux Klan or a racialist who generally fit into the category of Nazi skinhead or right-wing nut. No more. White supremacy is now used to describe the general nature of white power and dominance in the United States. White supremacy means that whites use the “privilege” of their whiteness to dominate the economy, the political realm, and any other sphere of influence. Because you are white, the argument goes, you benefit from societal advantage and are part of the white supremacist system.
Disturbingly, that broad category — which has more to do with perceived privilege than skin color — has come to include Jews. Even though Jews have suffered discrimination and persecution in the past, most Jews (at least in the United States) are of European descent and therefore part of the ruling class — those who promote this theory say. One recent example of this phenomenon came in December, when the Women’s March was roiled by charges of anti-Semitism. At the time, the New York Times explained that the group’s leaders were locked in an internal debate about how to regard Jews:
Women’s March activists are grappling with how they treat Jews — and whether they should be counted as privileged white Americans or “marginalized” minorities, especially in the aftermath of the October mass shooting in Pittsburgh, when 11 people were gunned down at their synagogue.
Similarly, just two weeks ago, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York agreed with the notion that some Jews could be called white supremacists in a radio interview with host Ebro Darden.
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