Mar 14, 2022·edited Mar 14, 2022Liked by Eve Barlow
I’ve never felt guilt over being smeared as “white” or “privileged” because I know what the leftist progressives who smear white people as “privileged” do not know, have never known, and don’t care that they don’t know: History. My late Russian Jewish grandparents (z”l) - who were never considered “white” by ANYONE who happened to be a WASP or white supremacist - supported Detroit’s black community during the 1967 race riots, and were rewarded: When other stores were being looted and burnt to the ground, their auto parts store was protected from rioting mobs by local blacks in the community. Why? Because my grandparents treated every customer who frequented their store like a friend whose business was valued and appreciated. Don’t try to lay any of this on the “woke” crowd, because the significance of history and the importance of people who understand what it means to do the right thing don’t fit the narrative of those who threw Christine Blasey-Ford, Michael Avenatti & Jussie Smolett under a bus the minute they were no longer considered credible enough to be “useful” (idiots). The ”woke” would eat their young for a win.
I felt such guilt as a white person during the BLM protests, but also terrified that the work of Malcolm X had given a false narrative of Jew hatred to make black men feel powerful in a land that made them less. I have run into Nation of Islam folks in NYC (where I’m from) and it scared me. They were the real Hebrews and we stole it. That the internet has exposed the evil that is in this world and is having such an impact, and not blaming a Jews, is a miracle. I look forward to how this mess plays out. Stay safe out there. We need your voice! 💕
I've withdrawn from many writers' groups because of the politics that smothers them, and the suffocating group-think among people who fancy themselves just so sophisticated. Keep fighting the good fight.
Thank you, Eve. I've learned so much from your writing. You've helped me work through and understand that i had internalized antisemitism. While I will always feel a degree of shame for how i felt, I now wear a magen david with pride. I am inspired to read our history and have pride in being a Jew. Your experience fills me with rage. But your experience has brought you here and I thank God for that as you've had a profound impact on me.
I’m glad this betrayal is mostly behind you. It’s such a hard and painful lesson to learn. I try to retain your confidence that better things will come. I left feminist activism 20 years ago, but never imagined how hard it would be. But, I rarely doubted my principles. And I think that’s more important than almost anything.
Thanks for this post and this second to last paragraph you wrote:
"I want to remind you of something important. Whether it's in work, in your relationships, in your family, whatever context, you may find yourself being punished for speaking out, and speaking freely. It's because the truth scares people. And if you're like me, you will go through every single period of your life, losing investments you made when you find out that friends or jobs or invitations dry up after you said what needed to be said. Know this: you'll survive. It's OK. Actually it's more than OK. The best relationships and the right opportunities handle the truth. The ones that can't were never reciprocal. They were never real. They were never honest."
I have been there and continue to be there with significant consequences. I needed to read the above paragraph
I just read and enjoyed this post on Bari Weiss’s Common Sense. 2021 has just morphed into 2022. And 50 years ago, in 1971, a group called The The Undisputed Truth released Smiling Faces Sometimes (tell lies.) Then in 1972, The O’Jays released Backstabbers.
But the reason why I subscribed so quickly is due to a song released in 1966 by Aaron Neville entitled Tell It Like It Is.
".... and I knew it would only be a matter of time before I was on the wrong side of the perimeter."
WAKE UP! You (like me) have ALWAYS BEEN on the wrong side. We're tolerated as long as we conform to their views, and when we don't we ...
- are part of the establishment
- belong to the Jewish (sorry, I meant Zionist) cabal that runs the media & financial systems
- are white & privileged
- are white & imperialists / colonists
- ....
I lived in several countries for over 20 years and the only antisemitism I faced came in Germany, from a co-worker who was Welsh. Who had never met a Jew, yet knew we were all money grabbing & rich (I didn't let him off lightly!). Suddenly - to my face - he would start asking if certain historical figures were Jewish and feign interest in Judaism. The more he tried to convince me (or himself) he wasn't antisemitic, the more his antisemitism bubbled to the surface. And the more apparent it became for me that his antisemitism was inherent, either passed through the umbilical cord, or sucked up via osmosis from the society he grew up in. (Sorry for my cynicism but it's after 1am and I'm tired). So what do we do? We do what we've been doing for thousands of years - try to impart the good of our culture (charity, helping others, etc.) in the society in which we live, and hope it's recognised not only as a positive trait from you but as one instilled in you from your Jewish culture. Oh yes, and keep the company of fellow Jews
Simply beautiful. And I wish this hadn’t been your experience, but what they in the music industry lost compared to what you yourself gained is monumental.
I’ve never felt guilt over being smeared as “white” or “privileged” because I know what the leftist progressives who smear white people as “privileged” do not know, have never known, and don’t care that they don’t know: History. My late Russian Jewish grandparents (z”l) - who were never considered “white” by ANYONE who happened to be a WASP or white supremacist - supported Detroit’s black community during the 1967 race riots, and were rewarded: When other stores were being looted and burnt to the ground, their auto parts store was protected from rioting mobs by local blacks in the community. Why? Because my grandparents treated every customer who frequented their store like a friend whose business was valued and appreciated. Don’t try to lay any of this on the “woke” crowd, because the significance of history and the importance of people who understand what it means to do the right thing don’t fit the narrative of those who threw Christine Blasey-Ford, Michael Avenatti & Jussie Smolett under a bus the minute they were no longer considered credible enough to be “useful” (idiots). The ”woke” would eat their young for a win.
You write the way I have always dreamed of writing.
I felt such guilt as a white person during the BLM protests, but also terrified that the work of Malcolm X had given a false narrative of Jew hatred to make black men feel powerful in a land that made them less. I have run into Nation of Islam folks in NYC (where I’m from) and it scared me. They were the real Hebrews and we stole it. That the internet has exposed the evil that is in this world and is having such an impact, and not blaming a Jews, is a miracle. I look forward to how this mess plays out. Stay safe out there. We need your voice! 💕
I've withdrawn from many writers' groups because of the politics that smothers them, and the suffocating group-think among people who fancy themselves just so sophisticated. Keep fighting the good fight.
Thank you, Eve. I've learned so much from your writing. You've helped me work through and understand that i had internalized antisemitism. While I will always feel a degree of shame for how i felt, I now wear a magen david with pride. I am inspired to read our history and have pride in being a Jew. Your experience fills me with rage. But your experience has brought you here and I thank God for that as you've had a profound impact on me.
Powerful, thank you
I’m glad this betrayal is mostly behind you. It’s such a hard and painful lesson to learn. I try to retain your confidence that better things will come. I left feminist activism 20 years ago, but never imagined how hard it would be. But, I rarely doubted my principles. And I think that’s more important than almost anything.
Thanks for this post and this second to last paragraph you wrote:
"I want to remind you of something important. Whether it's in work, in your relationships, in your family, whatever context, you may find yourself being punished for speaking out, and speaking freely. It's because the truth scares people. And if you're like me, you will go through every single period of your life, losing investments you made when you find out that friends or jobs or invitations dry up after you said what needed to be said. Know this: you'll survive. It's OK. Actually it's more than OK. The best relationships and the right opportunities handle the truth. The ones that can't were never reciprocal. They were never real. They were never honest."
I have been there and continue to be there with significant consequences. I needed to read the above paragraph
I just read and enjoyed this post on Bari Weiss’s Common Sense. 2021 has just morphed into 2022. And 50 years ago, in 1971, a group called The The Undisputed Truth released Smiling Faces Sometimes (tell lies.) Then in 1972, The O’Jays released Backstabbers.
But the reason why I subscribed so quickly is due to a song released in 1966 by Aaron Neville entitled Tell It Like It Is.
I stumbled over this statement:
".... and I knew it would only be a matter of time before I was on the wrong side of the perimeter."
WAKE UP! You (like me) have ALWAYS BEEN on the wrong side. We're tolerated as long as we conform to their views, and when we don't we ...
- are part of the establishment
- belong to the Jewish (sorry, I meant Zionist) cabal that runs the media & financial systems
- are white & privileged
- are white & imperialists / colonists
- ....
I lived in several countries for over 20 years and the only antisemitism I faced came in Germany, from a co-worker who was Welsh. Who had never met a Jew, yet knew we were all money grabbing & rich (I didn't let him off lightly!). Suddenly - to my face - he would start asking if certain historical figures were Jewish and feign interest in Judaism. The more he tried to convince me (or himself) he wasn't antisemitic, the more his antisemitism bubbled to the surface. And the more apparent it became for me that his antisemitism was inherent, either passed through the umbilical cord, or sucked up via osmosis from the society he grew up in. (Sorry for my cynicism but it's after 1am and I'm tired). So what do we do? We do what we've been doing for thousands of years - try to impart the good of our culture (charity, helping others, etc.) in the society in which we live, and hope it's recognised not only as a positive trait from you but as one instilled in you from your Jewish culture. Oh yes, and keep the company of fellow Jews
Simply beautiful. And I wish this hadn’t been your experience, but what they in the music industry lost compared to what you yourself gained is monumental.