Rick Sanchez's Real Offense
Rick Sanchez may have deserved to be fired -- but not because anything he said was anti-Semitic, because nothing he said was. No, Sanchez deserved, perhaps, to be fired because what he said was anti-American.
What, after all, did Sanchez say about American Jews? He said they’re not a “real” or authentic minority because they’re not really victims of American society. And, to illustrate his point, he said that there are a lot of Jews in the media; and that many of them are in senior management positions.
Sirius Satellite Radio host Pete Dominick. [The Daily Show’s Jon] Stewart [is] a minority as much as you are.
Former CNN Anchor Rick Sanchez. He’s -- he’s. Come on! How is he a minority?
Dominick. He’s Jewish.
Sanchez. Yeah. Yeah. A very powerless people [Jews]. [laughter.]
Dominick. Whoa.
Sanchez. I mean, you’re just such a minority. I mean, you know -- uh. Please! What are you kidding?!
Dominick. He’s, he’s – you’re telling me that --
Sanchez. I’m telling you that -- I’m telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like [The Daily Show’s Jon] Stewart. And a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart. And to imply that somehow they -- the people in this country who are Jewish -- are an oppressed minority? Yeah!
Well, it is true that there are a lot of Jews in the media; and that many of them are in senior management positions. But it is equally true that Jews are a minority because they account for less than two percent of the U.S. population.
By Sanchez’s logic, however, that’s irrelevant because sociologically speaking, Jews, in the aggregate and as a group, have done very well in America. They’ve thrived and prospered. Hence Milton Himmelfarb’s famous quip that “Jews earn like Episcopalians and vote like Puerto Ricans.”
And so, by Sanchez’s logic, Jews aren’t a “real” or authentic minority because they are prevalent in positions of high cultural and economic authority in America.
Unfortunately, this is not some unique idea or theory that Sanchez himself has developed and pioneered. This line of thinking, in fact, is commonplace on the American cultural Left.
Indeed, Sanchez simply said aloud what left-wing academic theorists have been saying publicly for many years, which is that Americans are defined, politically and culturally, by their sense of group identity and victimhood.
This mode of thinking is used to rationalize “affirmative action” and “group rights”; however, it is fundamentally at odds with the American conception of “equal opportunity” and “individual rights.”
This mode of thinking, therefore, is anathema to American conservatives, who don’t look at people as stereotypical members of an ethnic or religious tribe. Instead, we look at people as individuals, with their own distinct personalities, interests and beliefs.
So the idea that there are a lot of Jews in the media is completely and utterly irrelevant to us. So what?! Who cares?! There are also a lot of Irish Catholic cops and Asian manicurists and African American sports figures. Why should sociological differences between and amongst groups matter to anyone?
It matters to the illiberal cultural Left because to the Left, tribal identity defines who and what you are; it necessarily dictates your politics; and most importantly perhaps, it determines your political and cultural ranking.
But by the Left’s logic, perversely, the lower your status, the more power you have. Victims rule. So the more you can lay claim to victim status, the more powerful you will be culturally and politically.
From the vantage point of an illiberal cultural leftist, then, Sanchez’s remarks make perfect sense: American Jews (and Asians) are not “real” minorities, but blacks and Hispanics are. The former have done relatively well socioeconomically, whereas the latter have not (sociologically speaking, or in the aggregate, that is).
Fault Sanchez, then, for being an illiberal cultural leftist, which he clearly is. But don’t impugn him with being an anti-Semite, which is, I think, a very unfair charge.
There is however, one group that Sanchez -- and Dominick -- do seem to be bigoted against; and that is traditional Americans from the heartland.
Sanchez. I can’t see somebody not getting a job somewhere because they’re Jewish, not in this day and age.
Dominick. Well, then you’ve never been to Nebraska…
Sanchez. [laughter] That was actually -- that was actually a good point.
No, it wasn’t. It was a stupid and nasty point. It was a cheap shot based on a serious misreading of American history and malicious stereotyping of traditional Americans from the heartland.
Prejudice and bigotry, of course, exist everywhere the world over. But no country on the face of the earth has been more hospitable and welcoming to minorities than the United States. It is a slander on our great nation to say otherwise.
And that’s the real outrage of l’affaire Sanchez: It’s not that he slandered the Jews. It’s that he slandered America and the American people. And, for patriots on both the Left and the Right, who know, understand and love our country, that’s an almost unforgivable sin.
John Guardiano blogs at www.ResoluteCon.Com, and you can follow him on Twitter: @JohnRGuardiano.