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Differing Responses to Slavery and Oppression

The plight of blacks in America as the result of over 200 years of slavery, followed by another 100 years of pseudo-slavery inherent in Jim Crow laws has been well documented. Racism, too, has dogged black people in America. Blacks have truly suffered greatly. The purpose of this document is certainly not to deny that blot on American history, but rather to ask the question: why, after three generations of intervention by the American government and the encouragement of the vast majority of Americans of all races, do Afro-Americans still lag in almost every socio-economic measure when compared to another ethnic minority, Jews, who have endured their own seemingly endless history of slavery and oppression?

The turning point in America for black justice may be the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that followed a decade or so of sit-ins, protest marches, beatings, assassinations, and the emergence of great leaders such as Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Thurgood Marshall. Congress and, especially, President Lyndon B. Johnson had spoken: blacks have the same unalienable rights under our Constitution that had been enjoyed by others from the founding of the United States.

Since that time, America has amassed a complex of affirmative action programs, minority business set-asides, mass protests, and EEOC lawsuits all for the benefit of helping blacks enjoy a more prosperous and “just” future. We have Black History Month in February to remind us of the contribution of blacks to American progress. When it comes to a black being shot, especially by law enforcement agents, the immediate response is for activists to remind all Americans that “black lives matter” in the streets and on city hall steps. Congressman John Conyers (D, MI) has introduced a bill every year since 1989 to examine the legacy of slavery and make recommendations to Congress regarding “appropriate remedies.” Further, when an occasion takes place without significant black involvement, such as the 2016 Oscars, racism is the presumed cause.

The response to black enslavement and discrimination in America has been the imposition of laws and regulations on all others in an effort, presumably, to correct past iniquities with the assumption that blacks are victims, and therefore all others must, prima facie, be guilty of their subjugation. “We Shall Overcome” has long been sung by equal rights activists for decades. Perhaps, however, “You Raise Me Up” would be more appropriate.

Any continued economic deprivation of all blacks continues to be placed at the feet of racists of all stripes. If only the playing field were made level, it is surmised, then blacks would then naturally ascend to their rightful place, pari passu with all other peoples.

This is the uniquely American response to one ethnic group’s enslavement and prejudicial treatment. There has been another.

No ethnic group in history has suffered to the extent of the Jewish people: enslavement under the Egyptian pharaohs, 40-years’ wandering in the Sinai Desert, the Babylonian captivity, Roman occupation and the destruction of the center of Jewish culture and worship—the Temple in Jerusalem. Following the destruction of the Temple, Jews entered an 1800-year diaspora during which they were continually subjected to persecution, frequent massacres, and habitual discrimination. After the conquests of Mohammed, Jews were systematically victimized for hundreds of years under Muslim dhimmi laws. Czarist Russia pogroms killed millions of Jews during the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. And, then, there was the Holocaust.

While Jews have enjoyed relative safety and security in mainly Christian countries in recent years, violence against their person and property persists to this day. Islam’s religious texts call for the killing of all Jews and, today, several Muslim-dominated countries maintain official policies calling for the annihilation of Jews and the total destruction of Israel. Jews are unequivocally the most demonized and persecuted people of all time.

What has been the response of Jews to all this suffering? Amazingly, Jews, acknowledge their history of abuse and persecution, but don’t wear it on their sleeve. They seek only to be allowed to live in peace and worship as they please. Although they are the world’s greatest victims of racism and bigotry, they wear no mantle of victimhood, and, instead, work diligently to improve their lot and that of others. To wit, any list of Nobel Prize winners will demonstrate their contribution. Nobel Prizes have been awarded to over 850 individuals, and, although Jews represent less than 0.2% of the world’s population, they have been awarded over 20% of all Nobel Prizes. Their contribution to literature, music, and the visual arts is primus inter pares.

There are no affirmative action plans on American college and university campuses established for the benefit of easing Jewish entry. There is no Jewish History Month. There is no media hysteria upon report of a crime against a Jew, no sound bites from Rabbi Al Sharpstein, and no looting of liquor stores.

Jews believe in the family, education, work, self-reliance, achievement, and serving God. Jews simply overcome and outperform. It is a response to oppression that demonstrates faith and grace. The contrast is stunning. Would that all embraced life’s unfairness with equal fervor and aplomb.

How is it, then, that one ethnic group relies on the full power and purse of the American federal government to upend sustained oppression when another, which has suffered unimaginably and endured continual, targeted slaughter, has successfully bootstrapped itself to prominence throughout the centuries by the power of its own resilient life force? It might be that the good intentions of American policy have convinced blacks that equality of outcome can be legislated rather than earned. They need, instead, to embrace overcoming adversity through contesting their circumstances, accepting personal responsibility, and celebrating and sharing success. The Jews have sustained themselves this way for millennia.