The Alarming Rise of White Supremacy in America

The article is nice but extremely naive. I am a holocaust survivor from Hungary. The days we observe here is worse like the pre-holocaust days were. We are very strongly minority. We can be proud, but dead. We can not defend ourselves here. It is not just the white supremacists, but Islam members want to see us dead. The reasonable step would be: leave our haters behind us. Leave the countries, where the Government will not with full force drfend us. Organize Aliya to Israel. That is our only defense!

Thank you for writing this article. I am an American Christian who seeks an end to hatred. Your suggestions at the end of the article challenge me to help with action. Good to know that others are endeavoring to bring an end to hatred as well. Thank you for that too.

This issue has been in America from longer than I remember. In fact, how is it different than History? The only difference I see is the supremacy people are just more vocal and get more press time. Jews are an easy group to pick on...lots of practice. Instead of rolling over and accepting, we need to be more vocal and forceful to demand our rights to exist, just like other groups.

Yes to everything you wrote.

If you have never heard of "whataboutism," google it; It was a common tactic used by the Soviet Union to justify its atrocious human rights record. In short, if the Soviets were rightly criticized for, lets say, sending political prisoners to gulags, they would respond, "What about... (fill in the blank with segregation in the American South, Apartheid, etc.). That is the same tactic that many commentators are using in this discussion. Redirecting the conversation to Black Lives Matter, Antifa, etc., does nothing to address the fascist threat that the Jews in Charlottesville faced last weekend, and does not in any way justify what the Neo-Nazis said or did. The Orthodox Rabbinical Counsel of America clearly rejected the moral comparison between Nazis, and protesters of Nazis, and we should as well.

This article is about White Supremacy, which has become more emboldened. That topic deserves its own article on Aish.com, and should be seriously discussed. No Jewish congregants should have to leave their Synagogue out the back door because of intimidation by Neo-Nazis, as they did in Charlottesville.

As the head of Chicago's Jewish Defense League for 10 of its 10 1/2 year existence I can say Jewish groups don’t work well together. After beating up a group of Nazis in a Chicago suburb, they retaliated and desecrated about 10 synagogues on Chicago's north side. We immediately mounted patrols and put members inside the synagogues. The desecrations stopped. Chicago's ADL leader called the police commander of that area, an Irish Catholic chap. The ADL leader told the commander to arrest me because we were carrying baseball bats. He didn’t know the commander and the JDL were working together and blew the guy off. He then called me to apologize saying that he was sorry to tell me 'One of your own wants you arrested.' The commander couldn’t understand how a Jew wanted another Jew arrested for protecting Jewish houses of worship. I confronted that person several times in public forums and said if he had done that in a concentration camp I would have killed him. I meant it. The Jewish leaders publicly chastised us in the press, on TV, etc. 38 years after the fact we finally found out why the Nazis didn't go to Skokie in 1978 when the Supreme Court gave them the OK. A former Illinois state senator revealed that he was part of the FBI negotiating team with the Nazi leader. He said the leader 'begged' him to find an alternative site because the JDL would kill him in Skokie. All the movers and shakers in Chicago's Jewish community took credit for stopping the Nazis from entering Skokie. In fact it was a rag tag bunch of JDL people who drew the line in the sand and stopped the haters from shoving swastikas in the faces of the survivors. We took quiet pride in protecting those survivors from having to see the ghosts of the Holocaust in their midst. The Jewish leadership said 'Pull your shades down' and ignore the Nazis. That didn't work in Europe in the 1930's and it would not have worked in America in the 1970's.

agree.
hiding head in sand saying it's not happening, its not that important, Neo-Nazis are equivalent to AntiFa and leftists, Neo-Nazis carrying assault rifles ,just look the other way., the racism of this nation is to be ignored, its all just stupid. and while not a scholar, don't think the Talmud really would go along with it.

There is a fine line between free speech and the right of a state to protect itself from insurrection. See, Why Violence Against Nazis, the KKK, and White Supremacists is Lawful and Proper found at http://alansacker.blogspot.com/2017/08/why-violence-against-nazis-kkk-and.html.
For those who rant against the alleged alt-left appear to almost excuse the array of white supremacists hate groups. To argue that the Southern Poverty Law Center is a hate group is to expose one's ignorance and hate toward anything labeled liberal.

The anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism on the campuses along with suppression of freedom of speech and expression is much more dangerous and disturbing. Ever more so since the university administrations are not dealing with those individuals and groups who are perpetrating these anti-democratic actions.

We are seeing worldwide, rampant hate crimes. Governments, law enforcement organizations, media, and education institutions on all levels should be not only condemning this sickness in society, but making sure severe consequences are in place for those perpetrating such misbehavior. These disorders, threats, killings, and other crimes must be faced and put down. No society should be held in slavery to such chaos and hatred. We so often say, "Never again", but more is needed to really mean it.
Thank you.
Sister M. Michele S.C.M..

There is absolutely nothing new with the rise of neo nazis.this hatred is biblical.whats very frightening are groups that claim to be tolerant and inclusive, peaceful and loving,and are consumed with hate. God save us from their deceitful ways.

Like the Nazi movement , there have been other ethnicities that despise racial mixing because it lowers the quality of the breed .
These ethnic groups operate like a network to undermine nations and throw them into chaos . It's within the chaos that they move closer to their goals .

I didn't know that they were making threats towards Jew's, etc I pray that's they would quit. I know lawlessness will continue to be worse.

I am shocked and dismayed that Jewish people, because they disdain liberal groups, are willing to excuse and rationalize the behavior of NAZIS and white supremacists who were chanting "Jews will not replace us."

What was perpetrated by the (Nazi) Germans and some of their allies including collaborators, could have been perpetrated by other nations with the same intensity or less intensity. If another Hitler and willing murderers were to appear in America, the same thing that happened in Europe in World War 2 could happen now. Vigilance and good PR is what is needed. There is far too much Jew hatred on the internet and youtube, and this is unfortunately big time. It will be a great mitzah if Jews got jobs in the Police, the Military and Prisons services, for it is in these professions, that the Jewish people will be able to monitor Antisemitism more easily, as prisons for example become Universities of Hate. Self defense training and security approaches are also vital and well as learning new skills and languages should Jews from the US have to become refuges in another country, as an example. Please remember as always, there are people (of all religions) who are only too willing to murder, torture and persecute the Jewish People. It is important that Jews of all denominations work together and not against each other. The safety and security of the State of Israel is also important.

Hello! The above about sums it up for me and a lot of Christians out there. I have had the good fortune to be great friends with a wonderful Jewish woman, for many years. We have learned a lot from each other. We cherish the good things that have happened in our respective lives. I just need to let you know that yes, unfounded hatred has existed toward Jews from Old Testament times to the present. Those perpetrating this prejudice are ignorant people and not Christian. Real Christians are followers of Christ. Jesus Himself was Jewish, documented fact. So on behalf of ignorant people of which I have nothing in common, I apologize for their existence toward God's Chosen People and want to encourage you in your lives, aspirations, culture -- everything. With Love and Respect, Mary Jane Lang

Yes, the current rise in anti-Semitism is disturbing. But even more disturbing is the fact that a huge percentage of American Jews do not value being Jewish, know nothing about who they are from a Jewish perspective, have no idea why they are being scapegoated, have no idea how to defend themselves, have no idea how to defend Israel from slander. Many are embarrassed or afraid to identify as Jewish at all. This is the real tragedy.

Yes to this article. And lets place Torah firmly beside any use of the word Zion. Any other understanding of Zion is in error.

I live in San Jose Calif. and Trump had a rally here before being elected. Protesters, the alt left you might call them, were rioting and throwing projectiles at their fellow citizens, you know the kind who vote, who were attending Trumps rally. When the rally was over the police forced the people leaving the rally down a street where the rioters were. I saw a woman getting pummeled with eggs in the face standing in the doorway, many people got hurt. These people weren't white nationalist but the crowd treated them like they were. There is I believe a 38 million dollar law suit because of this against the city. It's obvious this has happened also in Charlottesville yet again and in my humble opinion driven by the media. Also, i did not see one violent riot at any of the leading democrat candidate rally's anywhere in this last election. The violence continues, Why.....

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a radical left wing group, one that places the scarlet letter, the label of a hate group, on those who They wish to silence those who speak honestly about the nature and magnitude of the jihad threat, blaming them for a supposed rise in “Islamophobia.”

So here we are, with this nazi march, that stole the march to protest the destruction of confederate symbols, and was likewise stolen by 'antifa' the real hate groups of size and purpose, currently attacking around the nation the last couple of years, along with the radical lefts goal to end free speech that they feel is 'hate speech'.
Ms Miller.... me thinks you should examine your sources, and also look at the larger picture, instead of the miniscule nazi blowhards and look at those at that march at so many other places as they did also at charlottesville, they who really want Israel and Jews to suffer.

Anti Semitism started before we became a nation. With Eisav hating Yaakov. And as long as we are in golus, there will be antisemitism. The torah clearly states, in this weeks parsha actually, that if we keep the mitzvos, we will be blessed. If not, we will be cursed. The only way to combat antisemitism, is to take on more mitzvos. If every Jew Takes it upon him/herself one mitzva they are not doing, acts of antisemitism will decrease. garaunteed by Hashem.

For the article enhances the division in the world, to paint the spectral of the color of ones flesh as being evil and not see the hate that belongs to all who manifest division and practice it daily. For like a religion they divide by a name and know not its meaning. A learned person surely would know about judgment of color and that it is not man’s determinate to place attributes of failure or success upon them, but to create understanding and unity among them.

On the opposite side were ANTIFA, a Marxists group who also hate Jews! Tell both sides!

Leaving aside the question of anti-Semitism on the left, this article is unnecessarily incomplete and poorly researched. For a small but telling example, as Jews, we are supposed to take names seriously, but Alan Berg's last name is misspelled as Burg. Second, the author cites FBI crime statistics for 2014 but ignores the stats for 2015, which were released 10 months ago. The principal change is that the fastest growing category of hate crimes that year was against Muslims, a 6 percent increase, and by many indications this increase continued if not accelerated further in 2016. For further context, hate crimes against Jews in these statistics are significantly lower than against sexual minorities (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and others. Finally, and perhaps most significant, blacks remain the overwhelmingly most frequent target of hate crimes in America. From the above information it should be clear that in forming anti-hate alliances, as the article wisely recommends, our greatest outreach should be to mainstream blacks, LGBTQ community. I do agree with Leonard M. Melman (5) that the position of Jews in America today remains far more secure than was the case in Europe before the rise of Hitler and World War II. Still, there is no small amount of fire in the smoke, and the time to attack the flames is now. We may never complete the task of eliminating ethnic, racial and religious hatred, but neither can we refrain from the effort.

I'm surprised that no one suggests moving to Israel.

We need Jews here. America is dealing with 2 sides of the political spectrum which are rabidly anti-Jewish: the far right and far left. Don't expect a "kumbaya" moment.

Why don't you investigate aliyah now? At least visit Israel so you can see how we're growing and strengthen your Jewish identity.

Dear Israel,
My son made aliyah, married and Israeli and they are expecting their first baby in less than 2 monthd

The events in Charlottesville are only too familiar to those of us living on the other side of the pond. I wish we had the Antidefamation League in the UK. Jews religious or not have only started to organise groups to counted antisemitism within the last two years or so. Jewish students in the most prestigious of universities are being intimidated with the persecutors getting scant punishment.
Good luck to Aish with its efforts.

I find it disgusting that the Jews in these comments are so willing to spit in the face of their Jewish ancestors who died in the holocaust and overlook neo-Naziism today. Instead of forming alliances with other groups as the author wisely suggests, many of the writers of these comments, possessed by an irrational hatred of others, turn against noble, progressive, movements such as BLM and instead attempt to create divisions between themselves and others. Neo-Nazi commenters here both ignore the Jewish ideal of justice as well as the universally accepted message of "never forget."

Moshe, is that your real name? How dare you call the people posting here neo-nazis. No one is overlooking the Nazis. Everyone knows they are slime. Perhaps you are overlooking the fascism of the left?

I find it regretable that you find it disgusting to identify the hate groups on the left and right and use the ad hominem excuse that it's spitting i the face of ancestors.
I find it laughable that you use BLM, a hate group that wants the deaths of whites and jews! and you call them a
progressive movement. What a sick concept.
It is the progressives who wish to use identity politics, ending freedom of speech, and supporting anti israel, and anti american ideology. I find it 'disturbing' that you have so little insight into actual facts, and spread the lies about 'progressive' groups, like, BLM, a hate group and one hating whites and jews.

A lot of the comments here appear to be obfuscating or denying important points. Being concerned about anti-Semitism on the far-right and the far-left is not mutually exclusive. This article rightly condemns white supremacy, which is a vile and terrorist creed. It is a conduit of genocide against non-white communities, as well as the Jewish community. It should be condemned. If YOU want to write an article about anti-Semitism on the left (and there are plenty of those articles in existence), then by all means do so. That does not invalidate anti-Semitism from white racists.

I am shocked to see the negative comments and support for white supremacists! It seems as if they support the neo- nazis. Thank you for highlighting in this article this rising threat that is often overlooked of alt- right hate groups.

B"H,
There are not many of the neo-nazi types you described. Across the board they are loathed and ridiculed. Annoying, yes but not to be feared.
On the other hand, the author ignores the anti-semites who are doing the real damage, the progressives, whose behavior really does resemble the fascists of the 1930s.
The article looses credibility when the event was compared to the progrums in the 19th Century. They didn't march with torches, they used those torches. The hyperbole is vulgar. And to reference the SPLC is laughable.
While it was disappointing to know this article was written by a Jew, I'm hardened to see most of the respondents were similarly appalled.

I'm shocked at these comments. When neo-Nazis and white supremacists rally, demonize Jews, and KILL a counter-protester, it's time to criticize the racists who did this. Great article.

Yeah, these comments HARDENED me too! Appalling for a Jew to criticize naziism? And the president doesn't know how to condemn it either?!

I think it would be a big mistake to zero in on the white power groups and their hate speech. There has been a steady trend over the past decade to hamper and impede the speech of anyone that disagrees with these extreme groups, whether they be on the left or the right. What ever happened to civilized discourse and the free exchange of ideas. I think social media impacts the lack of civility that we see in our country today. It's crazy that to have a differing opinion from someone else can cost you your life. We've seen this on the left and on the right.

Please get a hold of yourself! In my father's Poland, pogroms meant murderous hordes invading Jewish shtetls and spreading property destruction, injury and death on a horrendous scale and the same was true in Russia, the Ukraine, Slovakia and other areas of Eastern Europe - and this physical, vile hatred was supported by huge increments of the overall population.

In Charlottesville, I would estimate there were 200 to 300 demonstrators. If you consider that America's population is about 320,000,000 and if we allow the number of demonstrators to be 320, this means that there was just one-millionth of the American population involved, or one ten-thousandth of one percent!

Get a grip on yourself! Virtually all Jews live in freedom and safety in America and Canada and it will stay that way for many years because the vast majority of Americans and Canadians are non-violent and believe in liberty.

It's disturbing that the same things Americans fought against over 70 years ago is going on today. (To be fair in the past the extreme left aren't innocent too ). It's saddens me that people have no idea what going on today or the ignorant to this. We fought for freedom back then. 50 years ago people fought for equality. Now it just extremism. I am just scared.

Jews are being systematically discriminated against by the Left, whether they are pro-Zionist or not. On campuses they are excluded from social justice groups. In Chicago they were excluded from a women's rights march. This brand of anti-Semitism is not reported in the mainstream media. Your writers need to focus on both threats -- and the threat from the left is more dangerous since it has a home in the Democratic party.

I agree with you about far right hate groups. But what about far left hate groups such as Black Life's Matte which is anti white and anti Semitic it also would be nice to get some criticism of well known anti semites such as Al Sharpton until then it's hard to take you seriously

That's why I strongly agree with the four suggestions Yvette Alt Miller has posted. This does feel like Berlin in the '30s, but social media helps get the information out much faster than any methods used in the 20th century. We are now in a better position to stand up to this poison.

I'm afraid that most people in America and Europe (where I live) don't see how real and present the danger of a new rise of fascism is.
Aish.com accepted my article on swastikas graffiti in Bologna, Italy, but in Italy only one newpaper published a letter about it, nothing more. Nobody cares. Even some fellow Jews told me it's a bad thing, but nothing to worry about.
I see so much in common with the 20's of last century. I hope I am wrong, but meanwhile let my wife and I make aliyah.

I'm disgusted by all those who respond to Nazis and the Klan with "what about leftist groups". The only rational response to these fascists is to oppose them.