Passing without comment

Yes, Alice Walker is a fan of David Icke:

Over the weekend, the New York Times Book Review published a full-length interview with Alice Walker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple. The very first question: “What books are on your nightstand?” Walker replied with four, the second of which was:

“And the Truth Shall Set You Free,” by David Icke. In Icke’s books there is the whole of existence, on this planet and several others, to think about. A curious person’s dream come true.

This passed without comment from the New York Times interviewer, and the publication passed it on to the readers without qualification. This is rather remarkable because the book is an unhinged anti-Semitic conspiracy tract written by one of Britain’s most notorious anti-Semites.  [...]

That a celebrated cultural figure like Walker would promote such a self-evidently unhinged bigot might seem surprising at first glance. But this is only because the cultural establishment has spent years studiously looking away from Walker’s praise of Icke and his work, and her repeated expressions of anti-Semitism.

Back in June 2013, Walker wrote an effusive blog post showering accolades on Icke and his book Human Race Get Off Your Knees. “It’s an amazing book, HUMAN RACE GET OFF YOUR KNEES,” she enthused, “and reading it was the ultimate reading adventure. I felt it was the first time I was able to observe, and mostly imagine and comprehend, the root of the incredible evil that has engulfed our planet.”

In May 2013, Walker told the BBC’s Desert Island Discs that if she could have only one book, it would be Icke’s Human Race.

In December 2013, Walker offered end-of-year thanks to an array “beloved humans who’ve stuck their necks out for the collective.” One of them was David Icke, whose Human Race Get Off Your Knees book also got its own entry. [...]

Why has Walker escaped accountability for so long? Perhaps it is due to her Israel politics, which have been used to confuse the issue. Walker is a prominent supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, famously forbidding The Color Purple from being translated into the language of Hebrew. Because Walker—like Icke—is a strident critic of Israel, her defenders—like Icke’s—have dismissed allegations of anti-Semitism by claiming they are merely an attempt to quash her criticism of the Jewish state.

Or perhaps, more simply, she escapes accountability in part because she's black, and in certain progressive circles different standards apply to black artists.

With leading Women's March leaders like Tamika Mallory proclaiming their support for the appalling antisemite Louis Farrakhan, there's something of a depressing pattern emerging here....

Comments

[David]

I don't know much about David Icke, but after reading this I looked him up on the web. It is possible that he's an anti-semite, but why don't we just take him at his word rather than insist that he's using code words. He apparently believes that many world leaders are reptilian aliens, sent from a distant constellation to prevent humanity from reaching its full potential.

We have several words for people who believe this sort of thing. I don't think it's necessary to call him an anti-semite. Let's just call him a nut and ignore him. Whatever the label should be, neither reflects particularly well on Alice Walker.

[Mick H]

Oh he's an anti-semite alright. The Protocols, the Rothschilds....the full works. But yes, he is a nut.