I

f you’ve been paying any 
attention to current events 
over the last few weeks, 
it’s likely you’ve heard a thing or 
two about Ye — formerly known 
as Kanye West — and the horrific 
antisemitic comments that have 
led to his downfall. The star took 
to Instagram in early October 
and began spouting antisemitic 
conspiracy theories. He claimed 
that Jews control the media, 
value their financial gain over 
everything else and more. He 
also insisted that he could not be 
antisemitic because he is Black 
and a “true descendant” of the 
Jewish people — another harmful 
conspiracy theory that paints 
modern-day Jews as “imposters” 
for the “real” descendants of the 
Israelites.
His 
account 
was 
quickly 
suspended, but he ran to Twitter, 
tweeting that he was going to 
go “death con 3 On JEWISH 
PEOPLE.” This was the beginning 
of a very long, and still ongoing, fall 
down the antisemitic rabbit hole 
for West. In the coming weeks, 
he would not only defend these 

comments but reiterate them, 
along with similar antisemitic 
sentiments. 
Controversy has followed West 
throughout his entire career. 
Recently he has been in flirtation 
with far-right politics while going 
through a messy divorce, and 
that’s just the tip of the iceberg. 
This 
particular 
social 
media 
fiasco has left his reputation 
more tarnished than ever. Several 
brands have suspended their deals 
with him, and his net worth has 
suffered, causing him to lose his 
former status as a billionaire. 
Many 
are 
celebrating 
this 
outcome. Celebrities, politicians 
and others with a large platform 
have jumped on the anti-Kanye 
train, condemning him for his 
blatant hate speech. As a Jewish 
person, I would be happy to 
never hear from Ye again. Those 
who have dashed to his defense 
— mostly loyal fans — claim that 
we are too quick to cancel West, 
or that we need to consider his 
mental health struggles in our 
criticisms of him (even though 
antisemitism is definitely not a 
symptom of bipolar disorder) — 
but these individuals are in the 
minority. Thankfully, most have 
realized that West is not someone 

worth defending. 
Being Jewish, it is refreshing to 
see so many people condemning 
West’s behavior and showing 
their support. We definitely need 
it. Shortly after West tweeted his 
intentions to go “death con 3” 
on all Jews, an antisemitic hate 
group appeared on the overpass 
of 
a 
Los 
Angeles 
Highway, 
waving around a banner that said 
“Kanye is right about the Jews” 
and rendering a Nazi salute to 
passing vehicles. Unfortunately, 
this was not an isolated incident. 
There has been a significant 
increase 
in 
occurrences 
of 
public antisemitism since West’s 
comments exploded across social 
media, 
largely 
from 
already 
antisemitic individuals who are 
using West’s comments as a lens 
to further their own bigotry. Yet, 
even as I see my peers post about 
their support for Jews, I find 
myself asking a familiar question 
— where have these people been? 
What West is saying is not new. 
He’s relying on harmful tropes 
about Jews that have existed for 
millennia.
In a conversation with The 
Michigan Daily, Judaic Studies 
professor 
Jeffrey 
Veidlinger 
discussed some of the alarming 

antisemitic stereotypes that have 
stood the test of time. “The most 
prevalent trope of antisemitism 
is the myth that Jews have 
a 
disproportionate 
amount 
of power,” he said. They are 
imagined to have undue influence, 
and in more extreme versions, to 
even be controlling the world.” 
West’s claims that Jews control 
the media and the economy 
reside in this exact trope. These 
conspiracy theories have been 
spreading for centuries, and while 
their presence may not always be 
as obvious as West has made them, 
they remain a background hum in 
the lives of many Jewish people, 
acting as a constant reminder 
that we will never quite be able to 
escape the grasp of antisemitism. 
Rationally, it should not have 
taken Kanye West trending on 
Twitter for the internet to realize 
that Jews are in danger. Putting 
aside violent acts of antisemitism 
(though we have no shortage of 
those), the use of antisemitic dog 
whistles by our public leaders, 
celebrities and others has been a 
constant for years. Yet non-Jews 
are much more likely to allow it to 
fade into the background. 
The only thing Kanye did 
differently was put it plainly. 

Jamie Moshin, communications 
and media lecturer, told The Daily 
that West’s position is particularly 
unique in this aspect. “He is being 
incredibly vocal about it,” he said.” 
He’s not closeting it or cloaking it, 
he’s doing it at the top of his lungs, 
and every time he’s told to stop, he 
doubles down and says something 
even more inflammatory.” In 
other words, his language is so 
outright horrible that anyone who 
claims to have a sliver of respect 
for Jews has to condemn him. 
While it is encouraging to see 
non-Jews offering their support, 
it is also, to put it simply, the bare 
minimum. Condemning Kanye is 
easy. What is harder is learning 
to recognize and combat the 
antisemitism we encounter in our 
every day lives. 
The vast majority of people 
wouldn’t dare to render a Nazi 
salute. However, they will use 
coded, intentionally confusing 
language 
to 
convey 
their 
antisemitism. It is this kind 
of speech that is the easiest to 
make excuses for, particularly 
when 
it 
is 
a 
celebrity 
or 
politician that you agree with 
on other issues. Today, this is 
often seen through criticisms 
of the Zionist movement. Of 

course, criticizing Israel is not 
always 
inherently 
antisemitic. 
However, because this is such 
a contentious issue, positions 
on Israel have hardened and it 
has become nearly impossible to 
have a civil conversation about 
it without veering into offensive 
territory. It is then that criticisms 
of Israel can become rooted in 
antisemitism, largely because the 
Israel-Palestine conflict is such 
a complex issue and many do not 
know much about it. 
We must shine a light on 
this more subtle antisemitism, 
firstly by not allowing our anger 
toward West to fade. Following 
the Tree of Life Synagogue 
shooting 
in 
2018, 
activism 
against antisemitism increased 
drastically 
in 
the 
months 
afterwards. Unfortunately, many 
have lost that vigilance since. 
We must fight back against this 
and use our anger as a jumping-
off point to show non-Jews that, 
while antisemitism is often made 
up of blatant acts of violence and 
hate speech, it is also manifest 
in subtle microaggressions that 
are collectively just as harmful. 
Only then can we begin to have 
a meaningful conversation about 
combatting antisemitism. 

I 

want to share something. A 
quote, from a conversation 
in 
season 
two 
of 
the 
TV 
series 
“Fleabag,” 
about 
pain. “Women are born with 
pain built in,” says one of the 
characters. “It’s our physical 
destiny — period pains, sore 
boobs, childbirth. You know 
we carry it within ourselves 
throughout 
our 
lives. 
Men 
don’t. They have to seek it out. 
They invent all these gods and 
demons just so they can feel 
guilty about things, which is 
something we do very well on 
our own. And then they create 
wars so they can feel things 
and touch each other and when 
there aren’t any wars they can 
play rugby.” That last bit really 
stuck with me. When men 
cannot fight, they play sports. 
I cannot recall a time when 

sports wasn’t a big part of my 
personality. The first time I 
remember being a sports fan 
was when I was six years old. 
Since then, I’ve spent many 
weekends sitting opposite a 
screen 
for 
hours, 
watching 
game after game. It’s a routine 
I enjoy and one that provides 
adequate distraction from the 
stress and pressures of, well, 
life. 
That was how I planned to 
spend the weekend of October 
29th as well. 
The Sunday of that weekend, 
however, started on a somber 
note, because I came across the 
video of what transpired in the 
tunnel after the Michigan vs. 
Michigan State football game 
the previous night. 
When I first saw the video, I 
didn’t really know how to react. 
The truth is, I had become numb 
to such incidents. It worried 
me that something as terrible 
as two college students being 

assaulted, as well as the manner 
in which it happened, wasn’t 
the most shocking thing I’d 
seen that week. Unfortunately, 
it’s the kind of thing I see 
regularly. 
The 
relationship 
between sports and violence 
is as gruesome as it is clear. I 
began seeing it at a very early 
age: “It (sport) is bound up with 
hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, 
disregard 
of 
all 
rules 
and 
sadistic pleasure in witnessing 
violence; in other words it is 
war minus the shooting.” 
Although a tad bit extreme, 
the claim from George Orwell 
(author 
of 
“1984”) 
here 
is 
not baseless, and it sounds 
eerily similar to the line from 
“Fleabag.” 
The 
connection 
between war and men’s sports 
is a strong one that has survived 
in many forms to this day. It is so 
deeply ingrained in the culture, 
manifesting itself in everything 
from 
the 
vocabulary 
used 
within the sport (war jargon 

such as “last line of defense” is 
a commonly heard phrase, to 
name one) to the game itself.
I, like many sports fans 
around the world, saw athletes 
as role models — as people to be 
inspired by — and in turn, put 
them on a pedestal. It is because 
of the violence inherent to 
sports, 
however, 
that 
most 
sports fans learn sooner rather 
than later that this isn’t the 
healthiest practice. While I can 
proudly say today that I am able 
to separate the crimes of the 
athletes I once considered my 
heroes from my love of sport 
and what I think it should 
stand for, the aftermath of the 
Michigan-MSU game made me 
question it all.
Why do athletes and sports 
groups resort to violence as 
much as they do? For years 
I’ve seen sports pundits talk 
about how they like seeing 
passion and aggression on the 
pitch, and I can’t help but feel 

like the MSU players did what 
they did as a way to show how 
much they care. At some point, 
somebody told these young men 
that this is what they should 
do for the sport they claim to 
love. They should, as the cliché 
goes, “be willing to die for it.” 
And the unfortunate thing is 
that society, including even the 
most level-headed fan, builds 
these athletes up to such an 
extent that they think they’re 
invincible. That anything on 
the sports field goes.
No, it doesn’t.
For the sports fan out there 
who thinks jokingly passing a 
racist comment in the stands 
is okay, it isn’t. For the pundit 
who sits in the safety of a studio 
and claims “it’s a man’s game,” 
it isn’t. And for every college 
and pro athlete out there who 
thinks they are untouchable: 
you are not, no matter how 
much society might convince 
you otherwise. Sometimes we 

let the things we love get the 
better of our emotions, and 
while I can sympathize with 
that, because that’s what makes 
us human, I cannot accept it.
There are elements of our 
lives, like sport in my case, that 
matter just a little bit more than 
anything else. These are the 
things that keep us motivated, 
happy 
and 
sometimes 
even 
sane. And whatever that thing 
is for you, I promise you that it 
is beautiful, made even more so 
by the people who are a part of 
it. But not everybody associated 
with the thing you love will 
always be in the right. I’m here 
to tell you: Please don’t give up 
on it — don’t give up on the thing 
you love. Fight for it. Fight for 
what it truly stands for. Fight 
for it without hands or words, 
but with actions that affect real 
change and that bring people 
together. 
That’s what it means to fight 
for the things we love.

Opinion

Why do we fight for the things we love?

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
10 — Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Condemning Kanye West is easy, combatting antisemitism is harder 

RUSHABH SHAH
Opinion Columnist

D

uring 
his 
stop 
in 
Ann 
Arbor 
this 
Saturday, Sen. Bernie 
Sanders, I-Vt., made the case for 
reproductive rights, climate action 
and economic equality. I arrived at 
the event an hour and a half early 
with a question top of mind, a legal 
pad in hand and a readiness to 
write.
While in line, I was handed 
pamphlets by Communist party 
advocates, lectured about the need 
for tighter wastewater regulation 
in the Huron River and approached 
by young activists asking to sign me 
up for volunteer shifts. With a few 
exceptions, nearly everyone else in 
line was my age. 
That’s to be expected on a 
college campus. However, Sanders 
has a long history of garnering 
youth support. Sanders has a 75% 
approval 
rating 
among 
young 
voters. President Joe Biden, in 
contrast, lags significantly behind 
with this group. Since 2018, 
young voter turnout has risen 
substantially. 
Attracting 
these 
voters is no longer optional. It’s 
critical to any Democratic victory 
in 2022 and 2024. 
I attended Saturday’s event 
because I’ve had a question Berning 
since Sanders’s first presidential 
race in 2016: How on earth did this 
81-year-old man become so popular 
with people young enough to be his 
grandchildren? 
Based on his speech Saturday, 
Sanders’s 
popularity 
with 
young voters stems from three 
characteristics. 
First, 
Sanders’s 
independent 
standing gives him more leave to 
criticize both mainstream political 
parties. He’s able to quickly pivot to 
issues young people care about and 
he’s an expert at energizing and 
connecting with supporters. 

If other Democrats want to be 
as popular with Generation Z as 
Sanders is, they’ll have to start 
incorporating some of his strategies 
into their own campaigns. 
Though 
he 
caucuses 
with 
the Democrats, Sanders isn’t a 
Democrat 
himself. 
Officially, 
Sanders is an independent, and 
describes himself as a “democratic 
socialist.” Because of this, Sanders 
has had more openings to critique 
both parties. 
Sanders’s contempt for the GOP 
is well documented. Two weeks 
ago, he accused the Republican 
Party of having no economic plan 
beyond blaming liberals and called 
election-denying from the right 
“a cowardly, wimpy response to 
political defeat” on Saturday. 
But he hasn’t left the Democratic 
Party bruiseless either. He recently 
asserted that “the Democratic 
party has turned its back on the 
working class” as a cause for the 
rise of Republicanism in rural 
areas. 
In 
a 
world 
where 
most 
Americans have an unfavorable 
view of both Democrats and 
Republicans and 56% want a 
third party, that independence is 
a strength and a quality to whivh 
voters are increasingly responsive. 
Candidates 
who 
can 
balance 
supporting their party while also 
criticizing it are in demand. 
Second, 
Sanders 
recognizes 
that the youth bloc simply has 
different priorities than the rest 
of the country. From the students 
I interviewed at the event, a 
few common issues stuck out: 
reproductive 
rights, 
access 
to 
health care and student loan 
forgiveness. As if he overheard us, 
Sanders highlighted all three in 
his speech. To clarify, a Democrat 
doesn’t necessarily need to agree 
with Sanders to get that support. 
Ignoring these causes, however, is 
a non-starter. To mimic Sanders, 
candidates need to recognize the 

importance of these issues and 
offer up their own solutions. 
On stage, Sanders struck first 
at abortion. Sarcastically calling 
Supreme Court justices “geniuses,” 
he criticized the Dobbs decision 
that let states ban abortion in June, 
saying, “It’s hard to believe … in 
the year 2022 these people have 
determined that women are not 
intelligent enough to control their 
own bodies.” These comments were 
met with resounding applause. 
With 
health 
care, 
Sanders 
focused on the rising cost of 
prescription drugs, speaking to 
how he and his supporters drove 
from Michigan to Ontario, Canada 
to buy insulin at “10% of the cost.” 
These comments, too, were met 

with applause. 
When Sanders got to the issue 
of education, shouts of “I love you, 
Bernie!” had been exclaimed and 
audience members had burst from 
their seats to clap multiple times. 
The energy was electric. Sanders 
argued 
that 
forgiving 
student 
loan debt and expanding access to 
college education were necessary 
to ensure global competitiveness. 
Rather than settle for Biden’s 
limited student debt forgiveness 
program, Sanders advocated for 
free college and university tuition 
nationwide, concluding that “We’ve 
got to cancel all student debt in this 
country.” You can imagine what 
the crowd of around 1,000 college 
students thought of that idea.

My final point rests on Sanders’s 
ability to connect with and energize 
voters, both on stage and through 
other mediums. LSA sophomore 
Vrunda 
Patel, 
who 
attended 
Saturday’s 
event, 
highlighted 
Sanders’s use of social media to 
connect with young voters, saying, 
“It’s really encouraging to see him 
post [about] … the difference in 
wages for women and men … those 
are issues that matter to us.” LSA 
junior Kadisha Akbar echoed that 
sentiment, saying, “He’s funny and 
relatable.”
Toward the end of the event, 
I was ushered backstage past 
Capitol police to meet the Senator 
himself before he continued on to 
Pennsylvania, the last stop on his 

tour before Election Day Tuesday. 
We smiled for a picture, I put my 
hand around his shoulder and 
stammered a quick “It’s a pleasure 
to meet you, sir.” 
For all his divisive speeches, 
bombastic 
comments 
and 
far-
reaching policies, Bernie Sanders 
feels radically familiar. Sanders is 
credible when he criticizes both 
parties. He’s credible when he gives 
his position on an issue. He’s credible 
when he speaks to his audience, be it 
onstage, online or behind a curtain. 
When Sanders gets quiet, leans 
forward and starts a rant with “what 
politicians often don’t tell you…” 
young people believe him. Young 
voters trust Bernie Sanders. That’s 
why he’s loved by so many. 

Why Bernie Sanders is so popular with young voters — an account of his 
campus visit 

JOHN KAPCAR
Opinion Columnist

TESS CROWLEY/Daily

REBECCA SMITH
Opinion Columnist

