On Jews at a racist convention

On Friday evenings, after Shabbat dinner, or on Saturday afternoons after schul, after I read the Voice and Herald, I like to sit and read the Forward, the national Jewish weekly that, now that I have this column, has become the other Jewish newspaper in our house. So, a couple of weeks ago I was relaxing in my easy chair, calmly getting the bad news of the world, perusing the always provocative singles advertisements, reading the editorials, the book reviews… and then I saw it. It wasn’t hidden; it had been in plain sight all along. Maybe I just hadn’t wanted to see it, so I deliberately overlooked it. But there it was, in black on white. Maybe it was a spoof; but no, while the author (Jonathan Tilove) writes with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, a little cruising around on the internet confirms the basic facts. Oy. Gevalt.

First a caveat: As I approach middle age, I get used to things I never before thought possible. That there are Jewish Republicans has lost its shock value. That some Jews voted for Bush continues to astound, but, hey, people can make a mistake—just ask anybody, except President Bush, and most people will admit to the occasional error. But this story in the Forward hit like the proverbial ton of bricks (which, by the way, is no heavier than a ton of feathers, though it’s less likely to cause sneezing fits).

There was a convention of white racists in Herndon Virginia, innocuously and disingenuously misnamed “the American Renaissance Conference” which has met biennially since 1994. Among the assembled bigots, there was a dappling of … yes, I hate to break this to you… Jews. Arrggghh, now I’ve said it; the dark secret is out of the bag. I reveal names only because the Forward already has. Michael Hart, described as “a squat, balding, Jewish astrophysicist” (this is getting weirder and weirder) was happily in attendance, but left angry. At the closing ceremony David Duke, PhD (yes, that David Duke, the former Grand Dragon of the KKK—the PhD is a recent affectation earned from the Ukrainian Interregional Academy of Personnel Management [MAUP]; his dissertation bears the titillating title: “Zionism as a Form of Ethnic Supremacism”) showed up and delivered a speech referring to a threat to civilization even greater than that of Islam, “a power … that dominates our media, influences our government and that has led to the internal destruction of our will and our spirit.” That, ladies and gentlemen, if you need elucidation, is you. And me. Hart, bless his cardiac muscle, rose to his full diminutively rotund stature and barked in our defense, “You f…ing Nazi, you’ve disgraced this meeting.” Whoa, tempers were flaring. This might not have been the Mensa meeting some thought it would be.

So, what kind of meeting did Dr. Duke disgrace? The American Renaissance group attracted about 300 white people (mostly men) of whom about 15 were Jews. According to Tilove, “The attendees are united by a common belief in black intellectual inferiority, opposition to non-white immigration and ardor for maintaining America’s white majority.” This sort of coven (I hope that won’t be taken as an insult to witches) is bound to attract Nazis and their sympathizers. (By the way, someone should tell Hart that the KKK, for all its faults is not a Nazi group.) And that’s the bane of the organizer, one Jared Taylor who said, “‘Ultimately, for all the things I care about to happen, Jews must be part of the movement.’… Jews have influence and are widely seen as the ‘conscience of our society.’” How very white of him. But you’ll notice the correspondence with Duke’s use of the idea of Jewish influence. A coincidence? Who am I to say?

Now, when I think of the renaissance, I think of Petrarch and Boticelli and Michelangelo. I also think that these guys are now turning over in their graves, embarrassed by people who take the name of their movement (which propounded humanism) and then pervert it into a euphemism for race hatred. And that Jews would be part of this? And then lament and be surprised when the bigots reject them? Louis Calabro (not one of the 5%) complained “any time {I do] anything to rally white European American pride, those who object are almost invariably Jews.” So he doesn’t want Jews at the meetings. Who can blame him? I don’t want Jews at those meeting either.

One attendee, Michael Matthews demanded of one our landsmen in attendance, “Are you a Jew? I don’t think you should be here.” Our guy, Michael Berman was hurt. “You see,” he lamented” there’s no home for me. I’m like a black sheep here and everywhere I go.” Interesting choice of words, Michael. Maybe this Jewish black sheep can yet feel a little empathy for black people? But maybe that’s too much to ask.

All of which is to say, Jews, be careful of with whom you get into bed. To mix my metaphor, if you enter a den of vipers, don’t be surprised if you get bit.