Florida has its Ron DeSantis, and the Hudson Valley has its David Drimer. Both seek to defend racial hatreds in their attacks on higher education. DeSantis wants to make it illegal for Advanced Placement courses to talk about the role of Black people in our society. Drimer wants Bard College to shut down a course on apartheid in Israel-Palestine.
These disputes are decades if not centuries old. The US has been subjugating its Black population since 1619, first as slaves and then as tormented minorities at the bottom of a rigid caste system. Israel has employed racism and ethnic cleansing since its very beginning. Both DeSantis and Drimer wrap themselves in their respective flags, the stars and stripes and the star of David, to protect the very worst in their societies. And rather than trying to cleanse their nations of this racism, they attack any manifestation of the truth.
Both DeSantis and Drimer present themselves as defenders of a racist status quo. DeSantis has worked hard to protect white people from the "discomfort" or the "guilt" they might feel when exposed to the history of Jim Crow discrimination or hate. Drimer has an equally difficult task. In an article he wrote for the "Jerusalem Post," he calls his lobby, the Zionist Organization of America, an "uncompromised voice for Israel's security." For Drimer, any study of ethnic cleansing or racism in the Holy Land must be rooted out, even if it is taught by a world renowned human rights scholar.
Fred Nagel
These disputes are decades if not centuries old. The US has been subjugating its Black population since 1619, first as slaves and then as tormented minorities at the bottom of a rigid caste system. Israel has employed racism and ethnic cleansing since its very beginning. Both DeSantis and Drimer wrap themselves in their respective flags, the stars and stripes and the star of David, to protect the very worst in their societies. And rather than trying to cleanse their nations of this racism, they attack any manifestation of the truth.
Both DeSantis and Drimer present themselves as defenders of a racist status quo. DeSantis has worked hard to protect white people from the "discomfort" or the "guilt" they might feel when exposed to the history of Jim Crow discrimination or hate. Drimer has an equally difficult task. In an article he wrote for the "Jerusalem Post," he calls his lobby, the Zionist Organization of America, an "uncompromised voice for Israel's security." For Drimer, any study of ethnic cleansing or racism in the Holy Land must be rooted out, even if it is taught by a world renowned human rights scholar.
Fred Nagel