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Here's a story about #CancelCulture from one hundred years ago.
In 1920, Henry Ford was one of the most wealthy, powerful and respected men in America.
He was also a disgusting bigot who owned a newspaper.
In 1920, Henry Ford was one of the most wealthy, powerful and respected men in America.
He was also a disgusting bigot who owned a newspaper.
Ford's Dearborn Independent ran a NINETY ONE part series, starting in 1920, called "The International Jew: The World's Problem."
It was heavily based on "The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion," which is Russian fake news from 1903. Many conspiracy theory idiots believed it to be the actual minutes from a secret meeting of the Jews who run the world (some still do).
Ford's series blathered on about how Jews are responsible for all evil, including WWI, short skirts, and "Jewish jazz - moron music". He doxxed individual Jews, like Aaron Sapiro, an activist from California who was named and attacked personally.
Sure, The Dearborn Independent was a rich asshole's vanity-publication. But it was also inescapable. It was distributed in Ford motor dealerships across America. if you bought a Model-T, it came with a subscription. Circulation exceeded 1 million.
Ford compiled "The International Jew" into a pamphlet and published hundreds of thousands of copies. It was translated and republished in Germany, where it was a big hit!
It's hard to measure just how much damage Ford did to Jews through his combination of free-speech & free-enterprise. The pamphlet fuelled Naziism. Hitler was a fan, and praised Ford in the 1st edition of Mein Kampf. Millions of Americans who'd never met a Jew learned to hate them
Ford helped normalize anti-Semitism in America. And for a while, it was totally ok in American discourse to revere Hitler. Free speech!
Jews in America were really just beginning to assert themselves in public discourse. Their voices were marginalized. While there were Jews involved in American mainstream media, they generally kept a low profile about being Jewish and about "Jewish issues".
So what did American Jews do? They cancelled Ford.
Why cancel him? Why not DEBATE him? Well, sure, they decried and disproved him through their words. But they didn't have a platform like his. Plus, he was Henry Ford.
Why cancel him? Why not DEBATE him? Well, sure, they decried and disproved him through their words. But they didn't have a platform like his. Plus, he was Henry Ford.
So, they boycotted Ford auto dealerships. They physically removed copies of the Dearborn Independent from public libraries. De-platforming! Censorship!
Several Jewish individuals sued Ford for libel. Only one case went to trial (Sapiro's). The mainstream press was appalled by the attempt to silence the speech of this American hero. THE JEWS TRY FORD! read one headline.
But Henry Ford wasn't just a bigot. He was also a liar who took the position, for the purpose of winning at his libel trial, that he had NO IDEA about all the hate-mongering he had been publishing all those years. I guess "the mob" stifled his "wrongthink"
When Ford was about to have to testify and stand-by his bullshit denial, he buckled, and pursued an out-of-court settlement with Sapiro.
His cowardice put some stink on anti-Semitism. If those ideas were so great, why was Ford afraid to just *own* them? The trial became a farce. And being a bigot was suddenly bad for Ford's business.
The cancellation-campaign finally just wore Henry Ford down. He closed the Dearborn Independent. And he APOLOGIZED to the Jews (twice).
His apology was a fucking joke. He had somebody else write it for him and somebody else sign it for him. He didn't mean a word of it.
His apology was a fucking joke. He had somebody else write it for him and somebody else sign it for him. He didn't mean a word of it.
Here's a diss track from 1927 where 2 guys ham it up as greenhorns w yiddish accents who pretend to be genuinely touched by Ford's apology. They vow to sell Ford a suit 'at cost' & have him over for gefilte fish now that he's such a pal. It's still funny
The joke being, who cared if Ford was genuine? You're never gonna change the mind of a bigot. That wasn't the point. Through aggressive, sustained, non-violent action, Jews put a (temporary) end to Ford's hate machine and asserted a new standard: you don't talk that shit about us
Now, did anyone actually succeed in "cancelling" Henry Ford? Of course not. He was Henry Fucking Ford. He remained Henry Ford. He's STILL Henry Ford - Trump praised Ford's "good bloodlines" just 2 months ago. https://theintercept.com/2020/05/22/trump-hails-good-bloodlines-henry-ford-whose-anti-semitism-inspired-hitler/
But "cancelling" Henry Ford was still a really good thing to do, and in hindsight, way too mild.
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