Should We Care About the Antisemitism Against Stephen Miller?
Based on how people discuss Stephen Miller, it would be easy to imagine him as the octopus wrapping its tentacles around the world in a 1930’s nazi propaganda poster. Or the big nosed, yarmulke wearing, merchant rubbing his hands together in the dark as he craftily plots to destroy “our country.”
While BBC News calls Stephen Miller “the man behind Trump’s immigration plan,” CNN describes him as the “architect.” Kamala Harris and Joaquin Castro introduced a resolution condemning Miller because his “white supremacist, anti-immigrant ideology has no place in our country.” In a statement, Harris said that “he must be removed from the White House immediately to stop further damage to our country.” An article about Stephen Miller in Slate begins with “Remember back when we were still trying to figure out who was really running the Trump ship?” The New Yorker published a profile which claims that Stephen Miller has been the “true driving force behind this Administration’s racist agenda.”
When Stephen Miller announced that he tested positive for COVID-19, people likened him to a bat and other reptiles. They made jokes about how COVID had “switched species” again and compared him to a vampire, feigning surprise that he could even get a “human illness.” The Lincoln Project’s tweet (pictured above) is host to numerous replies that joke about Miller being a vampire, bat, or lizard.
These descriptions of Miller all rely on a variety of old antisemitic tropes such as the supposed biological differences between Jews and non-Jews and the conspiracy of Jewish world domination.
I thought that maybe these tweets and articles were just a series of accidents. I googled the names of other Trump advisors and cabinet members, such as Steve Bannon and Mike Pompeo, with the words “behind” and “architect,” but barely anything came up. I scrolled through the replies to Trump announcing he had tested positive for COVID-19, and while there was no shortage of jokes hoping for his death, I didn’t see any referring to him as another species. I certainly didn’t see any tweets comparing him to Nosferatu or implying he himself was a bat. No, this was not accidental. The discourse about Stephen Miller is unmistakably filled with antisemitism.
So… should we care?
It’s no secret that Stephen Miller is a white supremacist. Growing up, he was known for being outspokenly far-right. At Duke, he penned anti-immigrant articles for the student newspaper. Some of his own family members have spoken out against him, rejecting him for being a racist.
Further, he is, as Trump’s senior advisor, partly responsible for some of the policies this administration has produced. At a bare minimum, he does influence the policies- particularly the ones related to immigration. He also has opened for Trump at campaign rallies and has been one of Trump’s speechwriters, no doubt making sure to include racist and xenophobic messaging.
Because of this, I don’t really care what happens to him. It feels impossible to muster up an ounce of care that Stephen Miller experiences antisemitism. I could never ask someone to care about this either. And would an attack against Stephen Miller, regardless of the reasoning, not still be an attack against a white supremacist? No, I don’t care about him.
I do care, however, about what this antisemitic discourse means for the rest of the Jews.
The Jewish “Other”
Baked into both philosemitism and antisemitism is the concept of the Jewish “other.” The Jewish “other” is when someone, or an entire society, forms its identity in a way that excludes Jewish people. For example, antisemitic identity formation in nazi germany was built upon the idea that “aryans” were genetically superior to Jews and that Jews were “subhuman.” The Jewish people were portrayed as a threat to germany. Of course, Jews couldn’t simply be german, they were Jews. These alleged biological differences were used to justify negative treatment, separate laws for germans and Jews, and ultimately genocide.
The philosemitic Jewish “other,” on the other hand, is a largely post-Holocaust experience. In the wake of the Holocaust, white euro-america needed a way to move past the crimes of the Holocaust without sacrificing, or even admitting to, their colonial ideologies and projects. To subdue these contradictions, white euro-america formed its identity as the protectors of Jews and as a society that fights antisemitism. Jews become a defense of the “humanity” of white euro-american society while still being excluded from what is considered “society.” This is all for the production of white euro-american identity. Jews are merely the justification. When white euro-america is describing itself as a society that fights antisemitism, they are implying that other societies have not made this same commitment and are therefore a threat to Jews. This narrative is useful for colonial purposes.
“The state pays its debt to the Jews and buys a new moral probity. But in doing so, it generates a memorial discrimination, since, while using the memory of the genocide of the Jews as a political tool, it conceals the memory of the slave trade — which upsets the Afro-West Indian communities -, it conceals the memory of colonization — which upsets the Muslim-Arab and the African communities -, it conceals the memory of the genocide of the Roma community- and brings about resentment against the Jews who are rightly considered as the « sweethearts of the Republic ».”
Philosemitism and antisemitism are different from each other but are not separate. In fact, philosemitism would not exist without antisemitism. Both, by creating a Jewish “other” exist in a harmony that poses a great threat to the Jews.
Here sits Stephen Miller: at the intersection of the philosemitic Jewish “other” and the antisemitic Jewish “other.” This is why Miller is able to ascend class and gain power but not escape antisemitic discourse. This is why, even though Miller is an agent of the american colonial project, he is still compared to a lizard and a bat. This is why, in a room of white supremacists, Miller becomes the “architect.” No matter how readily Miller wields the violence that is whiteness, america will continue to show they haven’t forgotten he’s a Jew. It does not matter one bit that the policies he supports are no different from those of the slave owning founders or the neoliberal imperialists of the past few decades. Miller is a Jew. Don’t feel too bad for him, though. I assure you, whatever he gets, he deserves.
What’s most important, is that here too, sits every white Jew: at the intersection of philosemitism and antisemitism. We are wielded as justification by a society that cannot stand us. We are assimilated into a society that makes sure everyone knows that we are Jews “being assimilated.” I am not saying this to let white Jews off the hook. Just as Stephen Miller enacts anti-Black racist colonial violence, so too does every single white Jew, me included, by the very nature of being white. Through no choice of our own, we have become the justification of the white euro-american colonial order and unfortunately, white Jews have chosen to gladly accept this part. Houria Bouteldja writes exquisitely on these white Jews, “some of you even combat anti-white racism. And with such energy. For god’s sake. The more you do, the more you distinguish yourselves, and the more suspect you are.”
Putting Miller in His Place
In a non philosemitic/antisemitic discourse, the proper place for a white supremacist like Stephen Miller is to recognize that he is a white racist, just as are the other white racists. His Jewishness should not be seen as incompatible with his white supremacy and should not be presented as if we ought to be surprised that a Jewish person could be racist. This description amounts to a reproduction of the philosemitic Jewish “other” that pretends Jews cannot play party to the violence of white euro-america, but instead exist as perpetual victims to be protected. No, if there’s one thing white Jews have been perfectly assimilated into in america, it’s our ability to be just as racist as non-Jewish white people. The antisemitism white Jews face doesn’t change that.
