“There are people who don’t care about Jewish culture, who use DeSean Jackson, Stephen Jackson and some of the artists that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar mentioned as a way to undermine and try to eat before the credibility of the people who are out fighting for justice, “Hill, a writer for The Atlantic, told CNN’s Don Lemon on Thursday.
Hill was responding to an opinion piece written by Abdul-Jabbar that called Hollywood and the sports world for what he said was a lack of outrage at recent anti-Semitic comments from members of the black community, including Jackson, a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Hill said the NBA Hall of Fame member was not wrong to point out the lack of outrage at anti-Semitism, but argued that the conversation is nuanced.
“We are in this moment, in this very reflective and critical moment where we have conversations about race, and because there are black people who are at the center of these controversies, people worry that if I go out and I criticize Nick Cannon, that will be perceived as being against blacks, who are currently fighting for something really important, “Hill said.
“I think that is why you have seen a little less outrage than you would have seen if this involved someone white saying something about someone black. No one wants to be accused of undermining and undermining the fight.”
Cannon, actor and TV presenter, came under fire after a recent episode of his podcast “Cannon’s Class” featured the controversial hip hop figure Professor Griff and spoke of blacks as the “true Hebrews” and includes anti-Semitic conspiracy theories . ViacomCBS ended his relationship with Cannon, effectively canceling his improvisation show, “Wild ‘N Out”. Cannon, who has since apologized, will remain as the presenter of the Fox competition series “The Masked Singer.”
Before Cannon’s comments, Jackson received a backlash over a series of anti-Semitic Instagram posts, one of which included a quote about Jews falsely attributed to Adolf Hitler. He apologized after receiving widespread criticism.
“In their minds they think they are saying something that is educational, that is historically accurate and something that is not anti-Semitic,” Hill told Lemon. “I think part of the reason they think that way is because they don’t understand some of the same stereotypes and tropes that are putting pressure on the Jews who own everything, about feeding these conspiracy theories over which they have master control. about a lot of different industries. They are also at the same time showing completely the same reasons why Hitler persecuted them. “
Hill went on to say that the conspiracy theories shared by Jackson and Cannon show they don’t understand how hurtful they can be to members of the Jewish community.
“I don’t think they have really had the kind of conversation that allows them to have that level of empathy or sympathy, and they must understand that anti-Semitism is a big component of white supremacy, that we are all trying to fight,” Hill said.
In Hill’s last piece, “The Anti-Semitism We Didn’t See,” he addressed Jackson’s anti-Semitic publications and the aftermath he received after making an anti-Semitic comment while covering the NBA Finals series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. in 2008 as ESPN general columnist.
“The phrase I used in the column was that ‘if you support the Celtics it is like saying that Hitler was a victim,'” Hill continued. “And while I know there are a lot of people who said, that doesn’t seem so bad. That wasn’t really the point. The point is that someone had made a similar prank, let’s say it involved slavery or let’s say it involved a notorious figure who had been Known for chasing blacks, I would have been upset, frankly. That allowed me, gave me an entry point to reflect on why I did it so cruelly. “
“Obviously, as black people, we understand what our fight is, what our fight is, what we have been through, how we have been victims, and the worst part of institutionalized racism, systemic oppression, we could go on and on.”
Hill added that her experience helped her get into the mindset of why Jackson published anti-Semitic posts.
“And sometimes we get so caught up in that fight, we tend to denigrate other marginalized groups and say, ‘no, we were the most persecuted. No, we’ve been through the most.'” And we don’t respect what other marginalized people have been through. We may not do it on purpose, we may not do it maliciously, but it’s what we do anyway. It’s something I did. “
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