WBEZ Chicago: “The Violent Consequences of Anti-Semitic Bigotry”
In the aftermath of the tragic murders at a Pittsburgh synagogue, the racially motivated murders at a Kentucky Walmart, and attempted pipe-bombings - all by self-identified White supremacists, many are searching for the causes. “The damage done by conspiracy and vigilante violence alters the fabric of democracy, and our collective capacity to understand what is going on in our world, to trust each other. The degradation of politics and attacks on the vulnerable, now proliferating, did not start with Donald Trump, but he rides its wave,” this according to a recent analysis by Steven Gardiner, titled The Violent Consequences of Anti-Semitic Bigotry. Gardiner is a senior research analyst for Political Research Associates, a research think tank. He’s also anthropology adjunct professor at the University of Louisville. Gardiner will has researched and wrote on the politics of bigotry, violence, & authoritarianism, since the 1990s. He joins us to discuss the domino-effect of anti-Semitism and racism on our culture.