2016 Postmortem
Showing Original Post only (View all)What role does anti-semitism play among those opposing Bernie Sanders? [View all]
As we reach, sadly from my point of view, the post-mortem stage of the Democratic primary, some posters at DU are discussing whether opposition to Hillary stems from misogyny and racism here. It could be possible among some voters, although her disastrous hawkishness on Iraq and Syria and Honduras, her embrace and unembrace and possible future embrace of the TPP, her proselytizing for fracking, her affection for war criminal Henry Kissinger, and a weariness of the endless distractions that surround the generally conservative Clinton machine, just to list a few reasons, might be better explanations for the opposition to her candidacy to be found among so many left of center sections of the electorate.
One wonders if Bernie, too, has suffered a loss of support not as a result of of his progressive credentials but as a result of one of the age-old hatreds that have plagued humankind. Whether we like it or not, anti-semitism is out there and Bernie is Jewish. It may not be something one likes to acknowledge, but maybe those who recommended that other thread are right and it's better to bring these sorts of issues into the open where scrutiny and discussion can do their job of eroding malign influences in areas where they exist.
http://archive.adl.org/presrele/asus_12/6154_12.html#.V11_SvkrLIV
ADL Poll Finds Anti-Semitic Attitudes on Rise in America
New York, NY, November 3, 2011
A nationwide survey of the American people released today by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found that anti-Semitic attitudes have risen slightly in America, demonstrating once again that "anti-Semitic beliefs continue to hold a vice grip" on a small but not insubstantial segment of America.
The ADL survey (.pdf) found that 15 percent of Americans nearly 35 million adults hold deeply anti-Semitic views, an increase of 3 percent from a similar poll conducted in 2009, and matching the levels of anti-Semitic propensities recorded in the U.S. in 2005 and 2007. Over the last decade, the highest level of anti-Semitic attitudes was reported in 2002, when an ADL poll found 17 percent of Americans harbored anti-Jewish attitudes.
The 2011 Survey of American Attitudes Toward Jews in America, a national telephone survey of 1,754 adults, was conducted October 13-23 by Marttila Strategies of Washington, D.C. and Boston. The margin of error is +/-2.8 percent.
"Th e fact that anti-Semitic attitudes have increased significantly over the past two years is troubling and raises questions about the impact of broader trends in America financial insecurity, social uncertainty, the decline in civility and the growth of polarization on attitudes toward Jews," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "It is disturbing that with all of the strides we have made in becoming a more tolerant society, anti-Semitic beliefs continue to hold a vicegrip on a small but not insubstantial segment of the American public."
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