“If you want to defend the South and Western civilization from the Jew and his dark-skinned allies, be at Charlottesville on 12 August.” Nine years ago, that message spread across the internet. The call was answered by several hundred white supremacists, who marched through the University of Virginia. The rage-filled men carried torches, chanting, “Jews will not replace us.” They swarmed around the historic rotunda, arriving at a statue of the school’s founder, Thomas Jefferson. There they met a tiny band of student counterprotesters who responded with their own chant: “Black lives matter.” That evening turned violent, marking the start of a deadly weekend. Most Americans remember the torches, the anger, and the tragedy. But those clashing chants also highlighted a gap between those targeted by hatred and the language available to describe it.
Race is clearly visible as America’s wound. Anti-Semitism often goes unnoticed. Jews are frequently viewed as a colorless minority whose historical persecution occurred elsewhere or as people whose faith has thrived in America due to religious freedom. However, this ambiguous position has always posed a danger: Jews have never fit neatly into America’s identity frameworks. This inability to categorize them leads others to view them with suspicion-sometimes seeing them as beneficiaries of white privilege or not quite white at all-too assimilated yet not assimilated enough, too powerful yet too marginalized. This ambiguity has repeatedly placed Jews at the center of America’s conflicts regarding free speech and equal protection. When hatred defies established categories, we tend to either ignore it or overreact-both responses skewing our understanding of free expression.
Our failure to address anti-Semitism during Charlottesville-by both right and left-was not just an oversight; it opened doors for illiberalism to take root.
David Frum: Anti-Semitism is becoming mainstream
August 2017 marked a pivotal moment-not only for racial populism but also for American democracy itself. This crisis led to an increase in anti-Semitic acts while also sparking government initiatives aimed at combating such prejudice-a tool used selectively by Trump’s administration when convenient for its agenda. At the same time, progressives struggled with critiquing Israel’s conflict with Palestine without letting that critique slip into conspiratorial thinking.
Americans seem trapped in a false choice between upholding free speech and protecting equal rights-but this isn’t true. Upholding both will require us to normalize discussions about anti-Semitism which means revisiting Charlottesville and grappling with how both sides failed after that event.
Throughout 2017, three distinct racist rallies took place in Charlottesville. In May, alt-right figure Richard Spencer held a small rally downtown protesting against removing two century-old Confederate statues. A University of Virginia alum passionate about Wagnerian opera, Spencer presented old hate in new forms as he spoke grandly about restoring white supremacy while defeating liberal conspiracies meant to change America irreversibly. With Trump’s election fueling his hope that movements like Black Lives Matter would be crushed, Spencer yelled out: “We will not be replaced from this world! Whites have a future! We have a future of power!”
Two months later came another rally led by the Ku Klux Klan protesting Robert E. Lee’s statue removal; they displayed banners attacking Jewish communism along with mentions of satanic beliefs tied to Judaism amidst massive counterprotests driven largely by an emerging local chapter of Black Lives Matter determined to stand against hatred.
This article was adapted from James Loeffler’s forthcoming book, Exceptional Hatred: Antisemitism and the Fight over Free Speech in Modern American
In August came round three: Spencer returned accompanied by various far-right figures answering what they termed “The Battle of Charlottesville.”
Officially branded as a free-speech march defending monuments; many organizers had connections with extremist groups making their intentions clear online saying things like “Next stop: Charlottesville VA; Final stop: Auschwitz,” wrote Andrew Anglin from The Daily Stormer while fantasizing about mowing down protesters using vehicles even while denying Holocaust realities altogether-all wrapped within constitutional justifications for hate speech disguised under claims promoting free expression.
The weekend ended in chaos leaving dozens injured alongside Heather Heyer’s murder alongside two state trooper fatalities exposing how race intertwined religion within racist ideologies perceiving Jews either invisibly controlling society or appearing racially fluid acting like impostors betraying true Christians’ interests.
Charlottesville sent shockwaves across America; however afterward our nation lacked proper terminology needed when addressing contemporary issues surrounding anti-Semitism relative towards other forms hatred much less knowing how best respond toward them effectively given then-UVA president Teresa Sullivan denouncing violence paired alongside “racist,” “anti-immigrant,” “homophobic,” & “misogynistic chants,” neglecting mention Jewish communities entirely amidst other college presidents similarly failing speak directly regarding these realities taking place thereafter particularly local educators instead choosing focus upon identifying general terms used like naming hateful actions targeting Latinos Muslims LGBTQ+ individuals Christians & Black students altogether rendering Jews completely invisible once again following prior experiences decades earlier marking repeated patterns dating back historically throughout UVA alumni noting times where feelings towards non-white ethnicities were routinely enforced like Karl Shapiro recalling moments spent there during early decades stating hurtful behavior towards minorities occurred while simultaneously ignoring prejudices directed against Jewish identities resulting inevitable ramifications affecting numerous societal aspects today.
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