Title: Jews Don’t Count: How Identity Politics Failed One Particular Identity
Author: David Baddiel
Narrator: David Baddiel
Length: 2 hours and 48 mins
Trigger Warnings: Discussions of antisemitism, racism, blackface, Islamophobia, conspiracy theories, transphobia, J.K. Rowling, cancel culture.
Jews Don’t Count: How Identity Politics Failed One Particular Identity discusses the ignored history of antisemitism and how people don’t count Jews as real minorities, even when they should.
This book was great. David Baddiel talks about a lot of different aspects of anti-Semitism and why it frequently gets ignored. He references his personal experiences and how he personally tries to combat racism. While his personal experiences and examples are mostly centered in the UK, he does talk briefly about racism and antisemitism around the world.
Baddiel discusses the hierarchy of racism, which is something that I don’t think I have heard before, but really helps break down how antisemitism is overlooked. A lot of people view racism as something that only happens against Black, Brown, or Indigenous people so they don’t think racism can be directed at Jews, but history has shown that isn’t true. Also, Jews aren’t White. They can pass as white but that doesn’t stop them from being persecuted for their race and religion.
Another topic he talked extensively about that I had never really thought about before was acting. When a minority character is played by a nonminority actor there’s always an uproar about it. But when a non-Jewish actor plays a Jewish character there is only silence. It shouldn’t be this way. If we are going to fight for representation on the screen it has to be for everyone.
This was just a very thought provoking book with a very powerful and important message. I highly recommend this book, especially with the rise in antisemitism crimes lately.
Red-Haired Ash Reads 