Kanye West, the “Red Media” canard, and the rise of Antisemitism.

The U.S. has seen a rise in antisemitic incidents over the past few years, with 941 incidents in 2015 jumping to 2,717 tracked in 2021 by the Anti-Defamation League. Four years ago, a gunman stormed into a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and killed 11 people in the deadliest attack on Jewish people on US soil.

On October 29^th, there was a strange message seen scrolling on the outside of TIAA Bank Field during the Florida-Georgia college football game. In florescent letters, the words “Kanye is right about the jews” were visible scrolling across the exterior of the stadium structure, referencing recent antisemitic comments from the rapper Kanye West. Kanye West has drawn significant amounts of criticism, media coverage, and also support for his some of his comments espousing a conspiracy against the Jewish people.  

It’s unclear how that message was projected onto the stadium wall at the Georgia Florida game. It’s also unclear how long the message was visible outside the stadium.

But what is clear is that there is a growing narrative in the U.S. that states the Jewish people are somehow responsible for a global conspiracy of control over media, politics, and economics. And the Jewish people are now being scapegoated for all manner of societal problems and ills.

For students of history, this narrative is eerily similar to others that were peddled in 1930s Germany, the Jim Crow era American south, and the Pogroms of the Russian Empire.

What does God and His Word have to say about this? As Christians, what are to make of these claims? And is Kanye West for real crazy? Antisemitic? Or just…super confused?