Kyrie Irving Boosts Antisemitic Movie Peddling ‘Jewish Slave Ships’
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/kyrie-irving-boosts-antisemitic-movie-peddling-jewish-slave-ships-theory-1234620125/
The 2018 film was directed by Ronald Dalton, Jr., and based upon his 2015 book of the same name. A description for the film states that it “uncovers the true identity of the Children of Israel,” while a similar one for the book reads, “Since the European and Arab slave traders stepped foot into Africa, blacks have been told lies about their heritage.” Both suggest Hebrews to Negroes espouse ideas in line with more extreme factions of the Black Hebrew Israelites, which have a long history of misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and especially antisemitism.
The Black Hebrew Israelite movement is fairly broad, comprising organizations that “operate semi-independently.” The movement generally coalesces around the notion that Black people are the real descendants of the ancient Israelites, with more extreme factions claiming that Black people have been “robbed of their identity as being ‘God’s chosen people'”.
It’s those extremist sects that have often parroted “classic” antisemitic tropes, like claiming European Jews (often referred to as the “synagogue of Satan”) wield outsized control over society, especially in industries like banking and the media. They’ve also pushed antisemitic claims that Jews are responsible for slavery and the “effeminizing of Black men.”
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Irving’s ostensible promotion of Hebrews to Negroes comes at a moment when Black Hebrew Israelite thinking, and the antisemitism espoused by its most extreme sects, have been garnering more attention thanks to Kanye West. The rapper’s recent string of comments about Jewish people has been in line with extreme Black Hebrew Israelite thinking, such as his claim that “you guys have toyed with me and tried to blackball anyone whoever opposes your agenda” and his assertion that he “actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also.”
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