NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar addressed anti-Semitism in the world of sports and Hollywood in a new column for Hollywood reporter. In his article, he questioned why in the midst of the Black Lives Matters movement, there doesn’t seem to be much outrage at the anti-Semitic messages that several prominent celebrities have shared online. Instead, against social justice, he described the response to anti-Semitism as “meh-rage”.
“In reading the dark and soft bowels of popular culture, anger at sustained prejudice is an indisputable sign of the coming Apatholypse: apathy towards all forms of social justice,” wrote Abdul-Jabbar. After all, if it’s okay to discriminate against a group of people by spreading cultural stereotypes without much rejection, it should be okay to do the same with others. Illogic breeds illogic.
He cited a series of Ice Cube tweets, containing content that Abdul-Jabbar said “generally implied that Jews were responsible for the oppression of blacks.” He also referred to NFL player DeSean Jackson sharing anti-Semitic messages and NBA player Stephen Jackson according to those sentiments. Abdul-Jabbar also asked for Stephen Jackson’s support for “the notorious homophobe and anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan. That is the kind of dehumanizing characterization of a town that causes the police abuses that killed his friend, George Floyd.”
Abdul-Jabbar also said that Chelsea Handler shared videos of Farrakhan with her wide audience on social media. “That means that almost 4 million people received a subliminal message that even some Jews think that being anti-Jewish is justified,” wrote Abdul-Jabbar.
“These famous and outspoken people share the same scapegoat logic as all oppressive groups, from the Nazis to the KKK: all our problems are due to the bad-worshiping groups of rotten apples, they have the wrong complexion, they come from the wrong country are of the wrong gender or love the wrong gender, “he wrote.” It is very discouraging to see people from groups who have been violently marginalized do the same to others without realizing that perpetuating this type of bad logic is what perpetuates racism. “
He concluded by noting that history continues to repeat itself. “The lesson never changes, so why is it so difficult for some people to learn? No one is free until everyone is free,” he wrote. “As Martin Luther King Jr. explained: ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inevitable web of mutuality.’ So let’s act like this. If we are going to be outraged at the injustice, let’s be outraged at the injustice against someone. ” Read Abdul-Jabbar’s full article THR column.
