PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — I was minding my own business sheltering in my Northeast Philadelphia apartment when DeSean Jackson accused me – as well as all my fellow Jews – of blackmailing America.
Purportedly quoting the most reviled monster in modern history, the Eagles wide receiver last week posted on Instagram that Hitler accuses “white Jews” of having a “plan for world domination…Hitler said, ‘because the white Jews knows that the Negroes are the real Children of Israel and to keep America’s secret the Jews will blackmail America. … The white citizens of America will be terrified to know that all this time they’ve been mistreating and discriminating and lynching the Children of Israel.’”
What did any of us do to deserve that? The shock value is disturbing enough, but the curious acts of two Philadelphia institutions, that of the Eagles football team management and editors at The Philadelphia Inquirer, make it far worse. To be fair, there were a few bright spots amid the community reaction.
The Eagles organization perhaps inadvertently conspired with Jackson, a wide receiver on the team, when it announced that he was being penalized, even though it covered up the specific penalty. The Inquirer has so far relegated all news coverage of the story to the sports section.
The Zionist Organization of America urged the Eagles to cut him loose while Jewish football players with the National Football League said the Eagles correctly sought to engage with and educate Jackson about anti-Semitism. Convincing arguments on both sides have made it hard for me to decide.
Most Jews are predictably skeptical of Jackson’s response, and many of them do not believe anything Jackson says or does: whether it be the sincerity of his multiple apologies, his promise to learn about the Jewish experience and his plans to visit the Auschwitz death camp in Poland.
Nothing like this should even be happening in a nation that the rest of the world reveres, in the city where America began. If they must occur than the wrath of the community should be crashing down on the perpetrators. The wheels of justice should turn swiftly. A free and enlightened society does not tolerate this kind of conduct.
One can only sigh when reading the statement the Eagles released last Friday: “Today we have penalized DeSean for conduct detrimental to the team. He accepted these consequences and apologized.”
Detrimental to the team? Jackson was not bashing the team, he was bashing the Jewish people. What penalty? The Eagles statement does not say. Sources told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he was fined. If true, how much? Enough to dent his three-year $27.9 million contract?
I wonder if any punishment can damage Jackson. He is already a multi-millionaire, though he would probably be bothered to be terminated while still in his prime.
The editors at the Inquirer must be bent on limiting attention to the Instagram posts he presented early last week. The coverage was fairly good, but all stories and commentaries were published in the sports section where readers concerned with Jackson’s outburst are unlikely to turn.
When a hot story in the sports world breaks, newspapers usually run them in the main news section, if not the front page. Often related stories will be placed in the sports section. The same could apply to similar coverage in business, entertainment, etc.
What the Inquirer did was silly: They published a teaser headline across the top of the front page reading, “DeSEAN JACKSON DISAVOWS ANTI-SEMITIC POST sports, D1.”
Just what were the editors thinking?
Among the positive responses, two sports columnists for the Inquirer wrote that Jackson should be removed from the team. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey told The Forward, “It’s not up to Jewish people to defend (against) anti-Semitism. It should be Black folks, Christian folks, Muslim folks – in the same way that I don’t want to have to be the one to call out racism all the time.”
Most impressive was the joint response of two Philadelphia museums, the National Museum of American Jewish History and the African-American Museum: “It is our responsibility to speak out when false or misused history drives a wedge between our communities or furthers hate and prejudice of any kind.
“Messages emanating from the most prominent and influential members of our community, whose platforms reach and influence a broad public, need to do so from an informed place. This incident reaffirms why we must relentlessly combat hate through education.”
Standing together like this exemplifies what both communities should be doing on a greater scale whether bigotry is directed against Jews or Africans.
Whether the Eagles did enough is a disputed matter. In a statement, the Zionist Organization of America “demands that the Philadelphia Eagles terminate wide receiver DeSean Jackson immediately, based on Jackson’s despicable and inexcusable anti-Semitism….his ‘apology’ demonstrated his failure to appreciate that his actions were hateful and hurtful.
“He outrageously claimed, ‘Anyone who feels I have hate towards the Jewish community took my post the wrong way’ – even though his posts plainly demonstrated his hatred toward Jews. “
Morton A. Klein, ZOA national president, added, “As it surely would if a player posted despicable and hateful comments about African-Americans, gays or any other targeted group, the Philadelphia Eagles must show zero tolerance for bigotry against Jews by firing Jackson immediately.”
Current and former Jewish football players, participating in an online round table, recalled from locker room experience that black players had little or no exposure to Jews and did not understand what Jackson’s words meant, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“It’s ignorance – someone who has no idea whatsoever what anti-Semitism is, why his quote could be hurtful to Jews, or really to a lot of people,” said ex-player Geoff Schwartz. “I took that from my experience in the locker room. Guys not knowing about Judaism. Guys not knowing about our culture and our religion.”
Retired punter Josh Miller added, “If he was educated and he knew the history, he probably wouldn’t say those things.”
In many cases, Miller is probably right. Yet in these types of cultural clashes, many people have been fired for far less.
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Bruce S. Ticker is a Philadelphia-based columnist.
Thanks for this enlightening article. More people need to read this.