The Rise of Antisemitism

Throughout my research, I became curious about how the social fabric of the past 7 years has shifted the meaning behind the Memorial. Trump’s campaign began roughly two months before the Memorial’s dedication, and with Trump came permission to be antisemitic. Since Trump's election, antisemitic incidents have largely increased- in 2021, the ADL, which tracks antisemitism across the globe, recorded “2,717 antisemitic incidents in the United States,” which is a 34% increase from incidents in 2020, and is the “highest number on record since ADL began in 1979” (ADL Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2021). While we can only infer Trump’s impact, the ADL recorded that 18% of the incidents and 422 counts of antisemitic propaganda distributions were performed by white supremacists  (ADL Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2021). 

Of the thousands of antisemitic incidents, several stood out on the national stage. However, one stood out in particular- the 2017 "Unite the Right" march in Charlottesville, Virginia. Protesters, donned in Nazi propaganda, chanted things like “Jews will not replace us” (Shaheed Antisemitism in the United States). Trump, president at the time, addressed the antisemitism by stating that “I think there is blame on both sides…You had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides” (Klein 'blame on both sides').The second event that comes to mind is the 2019 massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in which 11 Jews were shot and killed (Shaheed Antisemitism in the United States). Both acts of hate reflect the “replacement” theory, a conspiracy comprised of the white man’s fear of extinction via the replacement of immigrants (Shaheed Antisemitism in the United States). Unsurprisingly, these sentiments are similar to those once held in Nazi Germany. 

There were also incidents close to home. In 2016, a year after the Memorial’s dedication, “Holocaust 2.0” was graffitied onto a dorm at Brown University that housed the Jewish fraternity Beta Rho Pi (The Forward Anti-semitic messages...). 2016 was also the year that a synagogue in Pawtucket was vandalized with a swastika (O'Brien Rhode Island Rabbi...). According to the Rabbi, Barry Dolinger, his congregants are getting used to the rise in antisemitism that has become part of regular life preceding and following Trump’s election (O'Brien Rhode Island Rabbi...). In 2017, a Swastika made out of feces was discovered in a RISD dorm bathroom, the same school that the Memorial’s sculptor attended (Times of Israel Swastika Made of Feces Found at Rhode Island Art School). Most shockingly was the 2019 report of Neo-Nazis standing just across the street from the Holocaust Memorial (List Nazi Armband...Worn by Pair in Providence). 

Recently, there has been an uptick of antisemitism in society, the embodiment of which now seems to come in the form of Kanye West instead of Donald Trump. In a recent tweet, West threatened to “go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE” (Paulson and Graham Between The Unsettling Stream of Antisemitism). This refers to DEFCON 3, a military warning that results in “an increase in alertness and military readiness…so that they can deploy and mobilize within 15 minutes” (Defcon 3, Round House or Yellow Alert Level). Essentially, Kanye threatened to harm the Jews with a fury and power similar to that of the military. With a platform that large comes unfettered power and the ability to alter our social fabric. And with this tweet, he effectively grounded anti-semitism back in our collective consciousness. While this resulted in a public condemnation of Kanye and antisemitism, it also resulted in an amplification of the antisemitic voices that had been quieted.