Dismantling
Antisemitism
How to talk about antisemitism like we believe we can end it together—so that we can
Jewish tradition teaches that words create worlds.
The words we use to talk about antisemitism profoundly shape our reality. They inform our understanding of the nature of the problem, what solutions might be appropriate, and who has the power to do something about it. For those of us working toward a future where all of us can live full, thriving, joyful lives, no matter our religions, races, or genders, language is an essential tool.
Most importantly, our language should conjure the world we wish to create, and reflect the truth embedded in that vision that antisemitism is a problem we can — and must — solve.
Unfortunately, much of the language commonly used to talk about antisemitism today does just the opposite. In subtle and overt ways, this language, in use over many decades and expressed by a wide range of messengers, has undermined the idea that we can live in a world free from antisemitism, discrimination, and oppression of all kinds.
This harmful and inaccurate story presents antisemitism as a problem completely different and separate from all other forms of discrimination and bigotry — one that has and will exist forever. This leaves Jewish people feeling afraid and isolated, suspicious of our neighbors, and unable to see our fates as fundamentally interlinked. For audiences of all religions and backgrounds, it can make the idea of taking decisive action to end antisemitism seem pointless.
The stakes are very high.
While antisemitism harms Jewish people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds directly, antisemitism isn’t just an issue for Jewish communities to address. Antisemitism is used to deflect blame for the failures of those in power, to remove fundamental freedoms, and to weaken democracy. It is a core component of white supremacist and white nationalist ideology that is used to directly undermine movements for social, economic, racial, and gender justice. In some cases, white supremacists use antisemitic ideas about Jewish people as a supposed “explanation” of Black excellence and the transformative success of Black-led movements, the thriving of transgender people, and the imagined threat of those who are immigrants, particularly people of color — all of which should be impossible according to supremacist ideology.
In other cases, those same supremacist leaders and individuals point the finger at Black, brown, and Muslim people as the source of antisemitism, inventing or exploiting mistakes and missteps — which should be opportunities for growth and repair — to break apart our efforts to join together across difference to win the future we all deserve.
This two-pronged strategy pitting Jewish communities and communities of color against each other is particularly painful for Jews of color, who exist fully in multiple communities across this manufactured divide.
We cannot dismantle antisemitism without addressing anti-Black racism and all other forms of institutionalized oppression.
We cannot dismantle anti-Black racism, nor any other form of institutionalized oppression, without addressing antisemitism.
Ending antisemitism is critical to achieving a thriving multiracial democracy.
We draw from the wisdom of our ancestors Emma Lazarus and Fannie Lou Hamer: Freedom and safety for any of us depends on freedom and safety for all of us.
As this guide goes into publication, many Jewish people are experiencing more antisemitism — and, as a result, more fear — than many of us have in recent memory.
Those of us working to advance justice and democracy are experiencing differences in perspectives and understandings that are straining key alliances.
To many, this feels incongruous with the story of progress we’re taught in America: that history moves in a straight line towards justice.
But the reality is that progress only happens when people take action, and reversals and setbacks are part of the struggle toward a more just and equitable society.
This is long-term, essential work which requires a broad range of educational, organizing, relational, and spiritual strategies. Language alone cannot solve all of these problems. But we also cannot solve them without finding the words to create the world we desire.
Fortunately, we can tell a different and more accurate story, one that helps us overcome fear and division and motivates us all to take action toward a future where freedom and safety are for everyone, no exceptions.
The purpose of this guide is to provide specific language recommendations to help people from all backgrounds to reshape conversations about antisemitism into ones that serve this purpose. It can be used in educational materials and programs, organizational efforts, public media, and as a narrative basis for proactive work intended to end antisemitism.
