Does DEI Fuel Antisemitism?

The antiracism framework of DEI isn't the cause of antisemitism. Antisemitism is known as "the longest hatred" because it's existed for thousands of years! It's simply ridiculous--and wildly ahistorical--to blame DEI for anti-Jewish hatred.

I strive to fight against the real harms of antisemitism while also calling out those who have turned it into a political football. I challenge anyone who would
purposefully pit Jewish people against Black, Latine, AAPI, Indigenous, and other communities of color in order to scapegoat DEI.*

Erica Jacqueline Licht's new article about antisemitism at Harvard is truly a gift at this moment. As a Jewish alumna and Research Projects Director at Harvard's Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project, she brings a deeply personal perspective to this discussion: "My own family’s history of marginalization and my understanding of it has shown me that my Jewish identity is not in conflict with my racial justice work. Rather, it is in direct service to it."

For me, this issue is less "complicated" than the author's title suggests. Simply put, antisemitism and racism are different but intersecting ideologies that serve white supremacy. We must commit to fighting them both.

*Not all Jewish people are white or white passing. Although Ashkenazi (Central & Eastern European) Jews are the largest ethnic group globally, the cultural diversity of the Jewish diaspora includes Sephardi (Spanish and Portuguese) Jews, Mizrahim (Jewish communities from the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia), the Beta Israel of Ethiopia, and more.