1991 ⟶ Austen's Criticism of 'The Secret Relationship' Focuses on Selective Citation
Historian Ralph A. Austen criticized the book, saying that t...
Year
1991
📚 Austen's Criticism of 'The Secret Relationship' Focuses on Selective Citation
Historian Ralph A. Austen criticized the book, saying that the "distortions are produced almost entirely by selective citation rather than explicit falsehood.... more frequently there are innuendos imbedded in the accounts of Jewish involvement in the slave trade," and "hile we should not ignore the anti-Semitism of The Secret Relationship..., we must recognize the legitimacy of the stated aim of examining fully and directly even the most uncomfortable elements in our common past." Austen acknowledges that the book was the first book on the subject aimed at a non-scholarly audience.⟶
AntisemitismSlave TradeHistorical DistortionBlack-Jewish RelationsAcademic Debate
United States📖 Publication of 'The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews'
The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews, published in 1991, is a book that asserts that Jews dominated the Atlantic slave trade. The book has been labeled an Antisemitic canard by historians including Saul S. Friedman, who writes that Jews had a minimal role in New World slave trade. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., head of the department of Afro-American studies at Harvard University, called the book "the Bible of new anti-Semitism" and added that "the book massively misinterprets the historical record, largely through a process of cunningly selective quotations of often reputable sources".⟶
AntisemitismSlave TradeBlack-Jewish RelationsCanardHistorical Revisionism
United States✍️ Criticism of 'The Secret Relationship' for Antisemitism and Exaggeration
The book was criticized for being antisemitic, and for failing to provide an objective analysis of the role of Jews in the slave trade. Common criticisms were that the book used selective quotes, made "crude use of statistics," and was purposefully trying to exaggerate the role of Jews.⟶
AntisemitismSlave TradeBook ReviewHistorical AnalysisSelective Quotations
United States📢 Retorts Published to Refute 'The Secret Relationship'
The publication of The Secret Relationship spurred retorts published specifically to refute the thesis of The Secret Relationship:⟶
AntisemitismSlave TradeCounter-NarrativeHistorical DebateAcademic Discourse
United States🧐 Klooster on Jewish Involvement in Slave Trade
Wim Klooster wrote: "In no period did Jews play a leading role as financiers, shipowners, or factors in the Transatlantic or Caribbean slave trades. They possessed far fewer slaves than non-Jews in every British territory in North America and the Caribbean. Even when Jews in a handful of places owned slaves in proportions slightly above their representation among a town's families, such cases do not come close to corroborating the assertions of The Secret Relationship."⟶
AntisemitismSlave TradeHistorical ResearchJewish HistoryFinancial Role
United States🗣️ ADL Statement on 'The Secret Relationship' - Volume Two
The Anti-Defamation League states that Volume Two of The Secret Relationship blames Jews for "promoting a myth of black racial inferiority and makes a range of conspiratorial accusations about Jewish involvement in the slave trade and in the cotton, textiles, and banking industries".⟶
AntisemitismSlave TradeADLConspiracy TheoriesEconomic Involvement
United States