Have you heard that Kanye West, now calling himself Ye, might buy the self-styled free speech platform called Parler? Supposedly "conservative," the app was used to organize and recruit for the Capitol siege. Parler continually enables hate with accounts that use swastikas as their profile pictures along with posts of Holocaust denial, antisemitism and racism. Proud Boys, QAnon conspiracy theorists, anti-government extremists and white supremacists have all promoted their views on Parler.
Until recently, Parler's lack of content limits got it banned from the app stores of Google and Apple. Parler's new moderation measure blocking abusive users and removing violence-inciting content gained it visibility, but Apple isn't exactly enamored, noting that the processes Parler put in place to moderate or prevent the spread of dangerous content are "insufficient."
Why is West motivated to purchase Parler now? His offer comes after being locked out of his Twitter and Instagram accounts for making posts that online users condemned as antisemitic. The condemnations ramped up when West attacked Jews with lethal threats, saying he was going "Death Con 3" on them. He later claimed in an interview with Chris Cuomo that he was just defending himself against the "Jewish underground media mafia." His antisemitic conspiracy theories and Jewish stereotypes are popular online, where they're combined with a 1933 speech from Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, adding to normalization of Jew-hatred.
Some folks dismiss the condemnations as ugly attacks on a mentally incapacitated individual. But many Jewish organizations and celebrities reject that. The Congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations has condemned West's antisemitism.
It's noteworthy that 170 Black and Jewish celebrities, including Mayim Bialik, Louis Gossett Jr., Jason Alexander and Tiffany Haddish recently formed the Black-Jewish Entertainment Alliance, aimed at fostering unity between Black and Jewish communities, as well as fighting antisemitism and racism.
You'd think that the alliance and its #StandUpToHatred would be celebrated. Many of the comments to Facebook's new alliance announcement did indeed commend the group. But others denounced the idea with politically-loaded comments. Some placed blame for the hate on the GOP, which tweeted support for Kanye West just days after the party held a $50,000-a-ticket fundraiser for Mehmet Oz who had based a speech around Hitler and Nazi memorabilia. Some blamed Democrats like Ilhan Omar whose anti-semitic remarks Dems refuse to condemn, and Black Lives Matter, referring to a new platform associated with the Black Lives Matter movement that describes Israel as an "apartheid state" committing "genocide" against the Palestinian people.
Others on Facebook rejected the idea of a Black-Jewish coalition, preferring a supposed neutrality by ignoring racism and antisemitism. For example, "Oh my goodness can we stop with these groups popping up all over the place all based on race and nationality? What the heck happened to America unity? These people don't have nothing better to do than come up with new entertaining programs ..."
Silence that pretends neutrality won't help anyone. I've often quoted the words of wisdom from Holocaust Survivor Elie Wiesel, "Always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
Imagine what will happen when West purchases Parler. We need to talk to each other more than ever to counteract growing racism, antisemitism and hate of the "other." Hopefully, the Black-Jewish Entertainment Alliance will generate a new and effective movement. Lead the way. ASAP.
Contact Deborah Levine, an author, trainer/coach and editor of the American Diversity Report, at deborah@diversity report.com.