The Facist legacy; musings on Strange Fruit

A screening of Joel Katz's documentary, Strange Fruit, tonight, as part of the Columbus Jewish Film Festival--a history of the Billie Holliday song (written by a Jewish New York schoolteacher active in progressive politics, Abel Meeropol). A deeply moving exploration of the song and its context (for more on the film, see http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/strangefruit/film.html
"Strange Fruit" is, of course, about lynching, and powerfully evokes that peculiarly violent American tradition. What's clear from Katz's film is the linkage between progressive politics, protests against racism and violence, and the deep connections between the struggles against all prejudice, be it racist or anti-Semitic. The linkage between protest and progressive politics is made clear when Meeropol's two sons, Robert and Michael, are interviewed--and we're reminded that they are the sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, adopted by the Meeropols after the Rosenbergs' executions in 1953. A montage at the end of the film, which evokes the murders of Matthew Shepherd in Montana, James Byrd in Texas, and other acts of violence caused only by the ethnicity or gender or sexual preference of the victim, makes the lynchings of the past connect powerfully with the present.

Lynchings were, and are, horrendous (and for more on that part of our past, checkout the Without Sanctuary site, http://www.withoutsanctuary.org/main.html). But even more hideous is the other bit of history the film suggests: the use of violence as an oppressive measure by the hegemonic forces of society. What becomes clear in looking at this aspect of our past is the readiness with which a majority finds means to terrify and subdue a minority, to 'keep them in their place,' and to affirm, through violent means, the dominance of the majority view.

Those violent means are often accompanied by dehumanizing the minority 'other'--turning the African-American, the Jew, the Italian, the Indian, the Asian, the Central or South American, the Mexican, the gay, the woman (and fill in the blank here) into something other than fully human, which then removes any compunction about the use of violence. That dehumanizing process is frequently aided by loud public figures, be they politicians (Senator Joseph McCarthy comes to mind), religious leaders (Father Coghlin, Pat Robertson, Rabbi Meir Kahane, Osama Bin Laden, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi), or commentators (Bill O'Reilly and any number of other radio talkers might well qualify). Those being dehumanized are first made into 'others'--and that's on religious grounds, or skin color, or national origin, or--equally frequently--on the basis of political benchmarks: "radical left" "Communists" "free thinkers" "pacifists" "unAmerican antiwar demonstators" "unpatriotic cowards"--the list could go on and on, and does.

This is essentially a facist operation. And it's chilling to see it played out over decades, always encouraged and fomented by the power establishment, always to oppress minorities. In this context, our current adventure in Iraq, and the trashing of anyone who objects or questions as either cowardly or unpatriotic and/or traitorous (see Congressman Murtha's experience, or that of Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson) is sadly familiar. As is the President's "you're either with us or against us"--setting out a stern warning for those who might disagree.

The main lesson? The facists seem to be always with us. And almost always in power, oppressing anyone who disagrees or might be a threat to their power--or figuring out ways to oppress.