{"id":79521,"date":"2020-07-19T17:00:07","date_gmt":"2020-07-19T15:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=79521"},"modified":"2020-07-19T09:11:45","modified_gmt":"2020-07-19T07:11:45","slug":"19-05-52","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=79521","title":{"rendered":"Why Black Lives Matter to the Jewish Community"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Why Black Lives Matter to the Jewish Community<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Michael Johnston<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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It has been a heart-wrenching few weeks in our nation. Young people massacred in a night club in Orlando apparently targeted because they were gay. Young African American men killed by police in numbers indicating an ongoing and widespread pattern of bias and violence based on the color of their skin. Police officers targeted and murdered in an act of revenge violence. Protests by Black Lives Matter supporters demanding change and justice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Justice. There is that word again. That word at the heart of the Jewish community\u2019s understanding of our obligation to help repair the world \u2013 Tzedakah, coming from the root Tzedek meaning righteousness or justice. <\/span><\/p>\n

Surrounding much of the anxiety around our deteriorating race relations, a counter movement has surfaced that uses the phrase \u201cAll Lives Matter.\u201d While well intentioned, this too has increased the level of anxiety in communities of color across the country. You might ask why. At a difficult time, doesn\u2019t it make sense that we should send a message that each of us is a unique creation of G-d; that each of our lives matter?<\/span><\/p>\n

It is, of course, inherently true in the Jewish view of the world that each and every life matters. In our view, it is equally tragic that innocent police officers and innocent young African American men lose their lives to violence \u2013 it is not what G-d intended for humanity.  But this attempt to reinforce a universal principal misses the point  While well intentioned, the sentiment doesn\u2019t acknowledge (nor does it move us closer to resolving) the specific problem at hand.  Instead, genericizing the issue takes the focus (unintentionally) away from the dominant inequity.  <\/span><\/p>\n

An analogy may help to illuminate this point:<\/span><\/p>\n

Imagine you\u2019re eating out at a restaurant with friends, and while everyone else gets a plate of food, you don\u2019t get any. So you speak up. \u201cHey, I should get my fair share.\u201d In response, the waiter says \u201cyes,everyone should get their fair share,\u201d but still doesn\u2019t get you any food. While the sentiment that everyone should get their fair share is reasonable, the injustice affecting you has not registered with the waiter, and more importantly, you still don\u2019t have food.<\/span><\/p>\n

To cure a particularized injustice we must both speak and act. As a people, we have our own experiences with the dire consequences of inaction. We understand the potentially disastrous consequences of the majority remaining silent in the face of bias against the minority.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFirst they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out\u2014
\nBecause I was not a Socialist.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out\u2014<\/em> <\/span>
\nBecause I was not a Trade Unionist.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out\u2014<\/em> <\/span>
\nBecause I was not a Jew.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Then they came for me\u2014and there was no one left to speak for me.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Martin Niemoller<\/span><\/p>\n

We understand the consequences of silence.<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know how we have found ourselves in this situation as a nation, but it requires our attention. I also believe that it is important to reject a polarized dialogue – an \u201cus\u201dvs. \u201cthem\u201d dichotomy. One can believe that most police offers are good people with good intent without denying the existence of institutionalized bias that must be urgently recognized and addressed. The data convincingly argues that innocent lives are at stake. <\/span><\/p>\n

While all lives do matter, in this situation, black lives specifically matter because remaining silent in the face of injustice can\u2019t be acceptable to a people who have suffered from the silence of others.  It is not a problem for just people of color;it is a problem for our entire nation. It is a problem for the Jewish community who despite our current relatively comfortable place in American society are always vulnerable to a resurgence of antisemitism.  Remaining silent also can\u2019t be an option if we truly believe in Tikkun Olam; in repairing this world.  We cannot have a whole or holy world unless all of us can live in freedom and without fear \u2013 equals in G-d\u2019s eyes.  <\/span><\/p>\n

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Michael Johnston<\/strong> is the President and CEO of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Why Black Lives Matter to the Jewish Community Michael Johnston It has been a heart-wrenching few weeks in our nation. Young people massacred in a night club in Orlando apparently targeted because they were gay. Young African American men killed by police in numbers indicating an ongoing and widespread pattern of bias and violence based […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79521"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79521"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79743,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79521\/revisions\/79743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}