So-called "anti-racist" guru Ibram X. Kendi addressed the American Federation of Teachers today. Most of what he said was nonsense, but I learned something about why he has been so successful.
It's a simple trick: he tells predominantly white audiences that racism is not a matter of personal responsibility. In fact, he says, it is very difficult to say that any person is inherently racist. Rather, there are racist ideas and practices. Racism persists because of "policies" and "practices." Change those, and you solve the problem, in theory.
So Kendi, who is a radical, actually wins converts by flattering his audiences, and offering them absolution -- as long as they vote and right way and defer to the correct leaders. With all of the "woke" pressure around, it's an attractive offer.
There's also a telling moment when a teacher asks Kendi how they can avoid breaking new laws in states that ban the use of Critical Race Theory in schools. Except that's not how she asks it: she claims ...
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This week's Torah portion includes several laws about conduct in civic and personal life, the common theme of which is boundaries -- setting bounds to what one may do at home, at work, and even in the battlefield.
One noteworthy passage concerns Amalek, the evil nation that attacked the Children of Israel as they made their Exodus from slavery to freedom. Deuteronomy 25:17-19 commands Jews to obliterate Amalek's memory.
The South African government accused Israel of genocide on the basis of a story about Amalek in the Book of Samuel, in which King Saul was commanded to wipe out the entire evil Amalekite nation.
Because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quoted this week's portion -- "Remember what Amalek did to you" (25:17), the South African government claimed he was commanding soldiers to commit genocide.
It was an absurd and malevolent misreading of the Bible and of Jewish tradition. The commandment, as observed by Jews today, is to remember the evil of Amalek and fight ...
