On August 3, 2019, Latino-Americans learned what German Jews learned on Krystallnacht: They are no longer protected by the rule of law. They are no longer considered human beings. They are animals, who may be hunted for sport. Hence, Saturday, August 3, in El Paso, Texas, Latino-Americans shopping in America's largest store experienced a blood bath day (Blut Bad Tag). They learned they are not protected by the rule of law. They are being judged guilty merely by the color of their skin or the accent of their tongues. Their lives may be confiscated at random. The only difference: many outside of Germany were shocked by the vandalism of Krystallnacht: Jewish shop windows broken, Jewish synagogues burned, Jewish men's beards ripped off, etc. Here, no one shows pictures of the bloodied corpses. It would not be the first time bloodied corpses have been photographed as gory tabloid fodder: After the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, newspapers showed the burned dead bodies lying lifelessly on the ground. They showed the burned bodies in their coffins, awaiting family identification. During the Vietnam War, newcasts brought the horror into American living rooms nightly. The media made the horrors of hatred and the pettiness of heartless capitalists relevant and tangible to all. One cannot look away.
I have tried to avoid politics in this blog. But it is impossible. I have stated repeatedly that I believe in Tikkun Olem: Healing the world. The world is in pieces. Everybody has a duty to try and unify the sparks.
Some call this chesid. I might mention that according to our sages, the world is dependent upon three things: Torah, prayer, and deeds of loving kindness. No where does it say, "the world of Jews." The world. All people, regardless of religion. Another saying from Torah: Justice, justice. Always strive for justice to be done. No where--justice for Jews only. No where: justice for Jews, though it be injustice to another.
For Judaism is a religion. You cannot know by looking at somebody if they are a Jew or not. Being a Latino(a) does not preclude being a Jew. Who is to say that among the massacred was not a descendent of Marranos? (Which, by the by, AOC believes she is. And why is she so rejected by her fellow Jews, as if she were the wicked son of the Seder)? Who is to say these Latino)a)s are not the children and grandchildren of the German and Russian Jews who came to the New World in the early 20th century, and settled in Mexico because they were denied entrance to the US (being socialists and communists (like Trotsky). Like Frieda Kahlo's father.
Latin America took in German Jews when the world averted their eyes. Cuba and Costa Rica, to name but two. When Spanish explorers came to map Mexico (which was later invaded by ex-Confederate refugees and taken into Texas), Spanish Jews were among their numbers. And some remained and married the locals. And some left their sperm in the locals, though they stayed not.
Thus, Blut Bad Tag.
What will it take for ordinary American's to say they are repulsed and revulsed and repelled by any politics which divide.
We are all Latinos.
The story is told (though it may be apocryptal) of when the Nazi's invaded Denmark and demanded that only Jews mark on their clothings a yellow star, the next day all Danes, included the royal family, sported yellow stars on their garb. We are all Jews. We are all Latinos. Anybody who takes a life, it as if they have destroyed the entire world.
This weekend is Tisha B Av. Jewish mourning for the destruction of the second Temple by the Romans. The mass suicides of Masada, which marked a turning point in Jewish ideology. Life has quality, no matter how harsh. We live so we can witness the triumph of justice, though it be long in coming.