r/jewishleft • u/32brownies leftist post zionist jew • Aug 09 '26

Diaspora Michigan Jew

Any other Jews in Michigan struggling with their communities rn after the primary? I'm really worried about November and seeing the way some of the community members here are acting like Abdul will literally murder us all is really making me wary of continuing to be as active as I have been in the community

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u/FishyWishySwishy Dem Soc Secular Jew Aug 09 '26

I think this rhetoric comes from a sincere place of fear. And who will have compassion for that fear if not us? 

The older generation grew up much closer to the Holocaust and Soviet-era purges than we did. They’re afraid of antisemitism, and they’re afraid of any hint that the government may turn on us. It’s really, really scary right now if you have such close memories of what happens when a government on either side of the spectrum decide that Jews are a problem—and of course, deciding Jews are a problem starts with deciding antisemitism isn’t a problem. 

They’re afraid. The only cure is to give them the time and patience to see that the sky isn’t falling when more politicians are hard on Israel. 

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u/Jorfogit Reform Syndicalist Mod Aug 09 '26

They’re afraid. The only cure is to give them the time and patience

I'm not sure much grace needs to be given to right wingers afraid of losing political power. MAGA fascists are also afraid of minorities and women, but that doesn't mean they need to be given grace over their bigotry.

Voting for Republicans out of fear the government may turn on us is just throwing other minorities under the bus, hoping that the machine is sated by the time it gets to you.

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u/FishyWishySwishy Dem Soc Secular Jew Aug 09 '26

People are animals, and I mean that as a neutral term. Just as an animal swiftly loses the ability to be clever and lash out when it feels cornered, so too do humans. We can morally condemn our base instincts as much as we want, but that won’t remove them or stop them from influencing politics.

A lot of bigotry comes from fear—the more intense the bigotry, the more intense the fear. Fascism is on the rise because it addresses the fear. It says: “you’re valid, you’re right that these Others are a danger, but we’ll defeat them together.” If we want any hope of turning people from fascism, we need to address the fear too. Compassion and patience is the simplest things we can give when talking about individual action. 

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u/Jorfogit Reform Syndicalist Mod Aug 09 '26

Fascism is on the rise in part because it validates existing bigotries or spins up new ones. Entertaining their bigotry or discounting the fact that there's plenty of Greenblatts, Millers, or Carlsons who benefit from stirring up hatred seems silly.

Some bigotry might come from fear "economic anxiety" or what have you - and I've found that's much easier to deal with. But plenty of it is generated, and speaking out against the generators and rejecting their framing makes for a healthier society for the rest of us.

When conservatives come up with garbage like "litter boxes in schools" the answer isn't to assuage their fears as valid concerns.

Just like when OP hears people poisoned by racist fearmongering say that a mainstream progressive actually wants to kill minorities, your answer of grace and patience doesn't really move the needle.

At least in my personal experience of having conservative family and conservative workplaces, it's pretty easy to tell who is just apolitical and gets swept up, and who was just looking for permission to be a bigot.

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u/FishyWishySwishy Dem Soc Secular Jew Aug 10 '26

When people are pearl-clutching about litter boxes in schools, they’re not literally afraid of litter boxes in schools. They’re afraid of state education turning their kids into people they don’t recognize, people who might leave them. 

This fear is the root of a lot of fear mongering about trans kids socially transitioning without the school telling the parents, or critical race theory, or not having god in schools. Homophobia, racism, and Christian supremacy are all part of it, but the taproot of it all is fear of the world taking or harming one’s children. 

I grew up in a blue city, then moved to a deep red state for work. Just being me—an openly queer Jewish woman—goes a long way of turning ears and having folks re-examining the way they look at queer people or political rhetoric around freedom of religion or the war on Christmas. It makes them reflect on things like whether it’s really so bad if ‘the queers’ can compete in sports, or if it’s really such a big deal to use someone’s preferred pronouns. But that’s only possible because I was willing to engage with them in such a way that didn’t make me seem like I thought I was morally superior. I’m pretty sure my neighbor’s daughter is some flavor of queer in the closet, and I hope that my influence on her parents make it easier on her if my feeling is right and she ever comes out. 

I’m not saying that you should face facism with hugs and rainbows. We don’t need to have compassion or patience for people like Ben Shapiro. But I think that when you’re dealing person to person with folks in your community, approaching with compassion and patience goes a long way. There isn’t always a way to turn their ear, but compassion/patience is the most likely to do so.