Sunshine Rule: Disinfecting anti-Semitism

(Photo by Bobjgalindo)

It was Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis who first proclaimed that "sunshine is said to be the best of disinfectants."  This expression particularly fits the airing of proverbial dirty laundry.

One of the dirtiest items in the sociological basket is anti-Semitism.  Soon after Brandeis made this famous pronouncement about sunlight, Jewish organizations began tailoring it to their own needs.  Back in the days of the civil rights movement, what came to be known as the "Sunshine Rule" worked well.  The more the dirt of anti-Semitism was exposed to general scrutiny, the sooner the tide of public opinion would wash it away.

However, time and tides wait for no man (no matter how well-meaning), and this Sunshine Rule began to boomerang.  What

started out being a necessary exposure of widespread evil is now sometimes an unnecessary spotlight on lesser-known pockets of prejudice.

In his Jewish Daily Forward article titled Ignoring Anti-Semitism is Sometimes Best: Exposing Hatred Isn't Always a Good Way To Eradicate It, David Bernstein points out that "annual ritualized condemnations of the Jewish state [Israel] on American college campuses receive nearly all their diminutive

media coverage from Israeli or Jewish sources."  He therefore recommends a more sparing use of the Sunshine Rule than has been previously merited.

Bernstein offers guidance for knowing when to shine a public light upon anti-Semitism and when not to.  With blatant anti-Semitism that "only a lunatic fringe would dispute," Bernstein is all for speaking out (and loudly).  However, when anti-Semitism is weak enough to be taken seriously by only a very few, it may be best to let

it die a natural death in its own dark hole.

Resources    

http://forward.com/articles/161224/ignoring-anti-semitism-is-sometimes-best/?p=2

Copyright August 22, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved