Zack Block

Yes, I know my profile pic looks smug.

[Zack Block @HZackBlock]

Please consider supporting @DiceGirlsBball! You can donate here -
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[Allderdice Girls Basketball @DiceGirlsBball]

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Please click the link & support our team 🎲💚🏀

[Zack Block @HZackBlock]

@MattReid217 @BorellaLauren @CatherineS96374 @CMGirlsHoops @faye_saunders27 @IzzyBobitski2 @lucieflem1 @madisonclairr @TribLiveHSSN Canon Mac won the game with 26 points from the foul line. This just sounds like whining.

[Zack Block @HZackBlock]

@DuquesneLight We just got our 1st update on our power since the storm & you estimate that we won’t have power until 5/6 at 11PM! Don’t laud the fact that you brought 400 workers. Why not 1,200? We’re going to be 8 days without power based on your estimate!

[Zack Block @HZackBlock]

I'd like to thank @Swordfish_Blog and the @PittJewishChron for allowing me the opportunity to share about my new work at @BlockAssocPgh and how I intend to work with the local nonprofit community that I love!

https://t.co/vvKCwekNMZ

[Zack Block @HZackBlock]

@TerenehIdia You’re the best! I hope that you’re doing well

[Zack Block @HZackBlock]

Agreed. I don't even know what else to say about it but this. @TerenehIdia is always so on point

[Jmal ✨️ @Jmal_malzof]

This whole thing is bringing me back to what @TerenehIdia & @HZackBlock both said so well four years ago https://t.co/yeTndf6xGG and https://t.co/PcIgoHCbGD still unfortunately relevant

[Oren Jacobson 🔯 @Oren_Jacobson]

…& all other forms of bigotry, including inside our own community.

END

[Oren Jacobson 🔯 @Oren_Jacobson]

7. Yes, white-presenting Jews can also act in ways that uphold/perpetuate white supremacy, even if unknowingly at times.

8. Our community has a ton of work to do to create a truly inclusive community & needs to continue working to challenge anti-Black racism…

16/

[Oren Jacobson 🔯 @Oren_Jacobson]

6. Since antisemitism is built on conspiracy theories, where the lies spread, truth is destroyed. Where truth is destroyed, democracy can’t survive. Without democracy, civil rights can’t sustain. Thus, all marginalized groups are threatened by the spread of antisemitism.

15/

[Oren Jacobson 🔯 @Oren_Jacobson]

4. The deep irony of all this is that Kanye is literally pushing ideas embraced/pushed by white supremacists.

5. As @BulldogShadow has beautifully outlined, antisemitism is fuel for modern white supremacist movements in America.

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[Oren Jacobson 🔯 @Oren_Jacobson]

A few other quick notes:
1.Obviously, these are just two factors of a complex problem in America with antisemitism.

2.Don’t cancel people. Challenge harmful ideas.

3.Mental illness, stress makes it easier to consume & spread bigotry.

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[Oren Jacobson 🔯 @Oren_Jacobson]

Put the 1st & 2nd issues together & you have a recipe for people to constantly dismiss antisemitism as less serious/urgent, which enables the spread & normalization of antisemitism into the mainstream, & increases the risk to Jews (& others) as a consequence.

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[Oren Jacobson 🔯 @Oren_Jacobson]

All that’s needed is a toxic brew of societal turmoil, unchecked antisemitic lies, & a demagogue using scapegoats to secure power. Bc antisemitism is so old, Jews so few, & antisemitic ideas so familiar & accepted, antisemitism has been a frequent, effective, rapid weapon.

11/

[Oren Jacobson 🔯 @Oren_Jacobson]

…that we are safe/secure. But Jewish life in modern America is the exception to the rule of Jewish life for millennia. We’ve gone from safe to systemically & violently attacked/oppressed rapidly in era after era, society after society, continent after continent.

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[Oren Jacobson 🔯 @Oren_Jacobson]

As antisemitism spreads from the fringes to the mainstream (happening in America btw), the status/safety of Jews can/has changed fast. That’s true regardless of the skin color or economic status of some Jews in a society. It’s tempting to look at Jews in America & assume…

9/

[Oren Jacobson 🔯 @Oren_Jacobson]

However, Jews & antisemitism predate America (& the modern western world) by 1000s of years & antisemitism doesn’t follow the same pattern that has locked in centuries of racial power/oppression in America.

8/

[Oren Jacobson 🔯 @Oren_Jacobson]

2nd: In the US (& the west), our conception of systems of power/oppression reflect group status in society as relatively fixed (especially in the short run).

Centuries of structural white supremacy are a solid data point for that perception.

7/

[Oren Jacobson 🔯 @Oren_Jacobson]

But, since we’re perceived as white (privileged), antisemitism can get minimized relative to other bigotry (even if unintentionally) given the different, urgent, systemic challenges faced by other marginalized groups in America, especially people of color.

6/