In his insultingly titled article “ The Palestinian Appropriation of Black Pain,” Joshua Washington identifies Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s (SNCC)1964 Newsletter “The Palestine Problem” as the turning point for this shift. Zionists who promote the “Black/Jewish Alliance” theory contend that the embrace of the Palestinian cause ripped apart the “natural” affinity between Blacks and Jews. Israel plays an important role in this narrative. It’s never exactly clear when or how the rot set in, but various culprits are to blame: radical Black student movements, the Black Panthers, the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan, Black criminals in Crown Heights, Jesse Jackson, Black Lives Matter, “Palestinianism.” Proponents of this theory will offer differing explanations, but they all agree that at some point in time, the Black/Jewish alliance was torn asunder by some divisive force. Indeed, the “Black/Jewish alliance” seems to be applied retroactively to define a certain era and the most well known thing about this alliance is not how it truly functioned at the time, but the fact that it no longer exists. That Black and Jewish Americans both vote overwhelmingly in favor of the Democratic Party is also seen as proof of the natural affinity between the two demographics.
They’ll often point to the role Jews played in the burgeoning civil rights movements of the 60s, particularly in establishing organizational structures to advance the cause. There exists this notion, beloved by the Old Guard of the Black and Jewish establishments and those who still see the NAACP and the ADL as meaningful forces for societal change, that at some point in the past, there existed this vibrant, tight knit Black/Jewish alliances against the forces of white supremacy. Which is a tough question to answer, considering it’s difficult to revive something who’s very existence is, well, dubious.
I learned of the event the day before while scrolling Twitter, where a tweet from the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs asked “Can the Black Jewish Alliance be Revived?” On November 3, Northeastern University hosted a panel titled “ Repairing a Divided America: Blacks, Jews and the Future of American Coalitions.” The speakers included Andre Tippet, a Hall of Fame Linebacker who played for the Patriots from 1982–1993, Boston Globe columnist Adrian Walker, Kraft Family Philanthropies President Josh Kraft, and Josh Zakim, Former City Councilor and Board Member at The Lenny Zakim Fund.
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