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Teach Right-wingers anti-Racism!

Dear Left-winger!

Good that you care and good that you work for a better world for all! However, one part of the job has been long ignored.  There seems to be a sort of consensus under the Left that Right-wingers ARE (per definition) racists. Their Racism would be one proof of why they are on the wrong side of history. Really?

Maybe it’s too easy for anti-Racism fighters just to huddle with the Left. (And it’s not that Left-wingers do not need to work on blotting out Racism from their lives. Their superiority feelings (they know so well what is right and wrong) makes them most obnoxious and easier spreaders of Racism.) It’s also too easy to only try to convert middle of the road people who are not really motivated to be activists.

How about convincing Right-wingers to drop Racism? Impossible? That’s not my experience! Yes, one needs to come well prepared. Yes, one needs to be willing to go where no one has gone before and learn on the job – make mistakes and adjust your course. You can’t know everything for success before you start moving, but you can prepare yourself and come inspired. I’ll give you some pointers:

  1. Prioritize the decent Right-winger. You don’t need to endanger yourself and go to violent fringe groups like Neo-Nazis.
  2. Anti-Racism activism is not meant to have Whites feel comfortable with like-minded people while trashing the other Whites. Rather, our job is to take responsibility to try to convert almost all White people to stand up against Racism.
  3. Say: Do you mean that such and such (Arabs, Blacks, Chinese) are less human than us? That implies that they do not know right from wrong, have no free will and are innocent no matter what they do. Is that what you want to say? I’d rather say that one of them showing to have had free will is enough to indict others of that group that do not act OK and not trash any of the others.
  4. Ask: What do you hate most about “them”? Have you ever been called the same by others? You should try to clean up your act and clear your name and you won’t need to take your uneasiness out on others.
  5. Ask: Do you remember seeing loved ones saying or doing something racist while you were thinking that that was not OK?
  6. Ask: Do you remember one time that you or a loved one of yours refused to fully cooperate with Racism?
  7. Ask: What would you do if you were an Arab / Black / Chinese yourself?
  8. Don’t fight their Right-wing political identification. Rather say: Racism blots the reputation of the Right and sullies your good name and what you stand for.
  9. Ask: Do you ever feel terribly lonely? This might come from – as a baby or toddler – seeing your White loved ones act out Racism and feeling so confused and ashamed that you emotionally abandoned them. You see: you are a born anti-racist. Just to proclaim that you’re proud to be a racist does not really help, does it? You can regain your warm connection with all people, including Whites, by going against Racism all the time so that that you can stop feeling so guilty and lonely. You have every right to be proud of and loved for exactly who you are.

Of course, before you start working on others, go though these points yourself, so that you don’t expect from them what you’ve not been prepared to face yourself.

About the Author
The author is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (DES - Diethylstilbestrol), born in 1953 to two Dutch survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork, and holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam). He taught Re-evaluation Co-counseling, became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a vegan for 8 years now. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His most influential teachers (chronologically) are: his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach and lehavdiel bein chayim lechayim: Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff and Rav Meir Lubin. * Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years he wrote hasbara for the Dutch public. His fields of attention now are varied: Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science, Politics (Israel, the US and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight Truth), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, GLBTQAI, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), Ecology and Veganism. Sometimes he's misunderstood because he has such a wide vision that never fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what many love about him. Many of his posts relate to affairs from the news or the Torah Portion of the Week or are new insights that suddenly befell him. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, reassure the doubters but make the self-assured doubt more. He strives to bring a fresh perspective rather than bore you with the obvious. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds must be disputed. In short, his main political positions are: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, democracy, anti the fake peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, Science, Free Will, anti blaming-the-victim and for down-to-earth optimism. Read his blog how he attempts to bridge any discrepancies. He admits sometimes exaggerating to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quit a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. November 13, 2018, he published his 500st blog post with the ToI. * He likes doing age-appropriate and age-inappropriate things and looks forward to getting to know his timeless mature out-of-the-box soul mate. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. To see other blog posts by him, a second blog - under construction - can be found by clicking on the Website icon next to his picture.
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