The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews is a three-volume work ofpseudo-scholarship,[7] published by theNation of Islam. The first volume, which was released in 1991, asserts thatJews dominated theAtlantic slave trade.[8]The Secret Relationship has been widely criticized for beingantisemitic and for failing to provide an objective analysis of the role of Jews in the slave trade.[9][10][11][12] TheAmerican Historical Association issued a statement condemning claims that Jews played a disproportionate role in the Atlantic slave trade,[12] and other historians such as Wim Klooster andSeymour Drescher concluded that the role of Jews in the overall Atlantic slave trade was in fact minimal.[13][14]
The book uses selective citations in order to exaggerate the role of Jews.[11][15][16]
The book's thesis has been labeled anantisemitic canard by historians, includingSaul S. Friedman, who contends that Jews had a minimal role in the New World slave trade.[10]Henry Louis Gates Jr., head of the department of Afro-American studies atHarvard University, called the book "the Bible ofnew antisemitism" and added that "the book massively misinterprets the historical record, largely through a process of cunningly selective quotations of often reputable sources".[11] Other black academics came forward to condemn the book.[17]Eugene Genovese, an American historian and expert on slavery, wrote that the book "rivalsThe Protocols of the Elders of Zion in fantasy and gross distortion. The absurdity of its pretenses to scholarship are outweighed by its sheer viciousness. It must be taken with deadly seriousness as a transparent attempt to foment antisemitism, irrationality, and hatred, and to subvert intellectual discourse and common decency on our campuses."[18]
Wim Klooster noted that 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 and Spanish territory inNorth America,South 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."[13]
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,"[9] and was purposefully trying to exaggerate the role of Jews.[15] 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,"[19] and "[w]hile we should not ignore the antisemitism ofThe Secret Relationship..., we must recognize the legitimacy of the stated aim of examining fully and directly even the most uncomfortable elements in our [Black and Jewish] common past."[20]
In 1995, theAmerican Historical Association (AHA) issued a statement condemning "any statement alleging that Jews played a disproportionate role in the Atlantic slave trade."[21]
The publication ofThe Secret Relationship spurred retorts published specifically to refute the thesis ofThe Secret Relationship:
1992 – Harold Brackman,Jew on the Brain: A Public Refutation of the Nation of Islam's The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews. The booklet was published independently byBill Adler, the former director of publicity forDef Jam Recordings, after learning that the rapperIce Cube had endorsedThe Secret Relationship.[22] In his foreword, Adler wrote, "I care way too much about black-Jewish relations – and particularly about black-Jewish relations in the rap community – to allow 'The Secret Relationship' to go unchallenged." The booklet's afterword was written byCornel West.[23] It was republished that same year, minus its original foreword and afterword, as "Farrakhan's Reign of Historical Error: The Secret Relationship Between Blacks & Jews" by theSimon Wiesenthal Center.[24] In 1994, it was republished for a second time under the title "Ministry of Lies: the Truth Behind 'The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews'" byFour Walls Eight Windows.[25]
1992 –David Brion Davis, "Jews in the Slave Trade," inCulturefront (Fall 1992) pp. 42–45.
1993 –Seymour Drescher, "The Role of Jews in the Atlantic Slave Trade,"Immigrants and Minorities, 12 (1993), pp. 113–125.
1993 – Marc Caplan,Jew-Hatred As History: An Analysis of the Nation of Islam's "The Secret Relationship" (Published by theAnti Defamation League).
1999 – Saul S. Friedman,Jews and the American Slave Trade, Transaction. Friedman's work has been described as a successful rebuke ofThe Secret Relationship. In his work, Friedman referred toThe Secret Relationship as the "Handbook of Hate", and described it as "one part fact and nine parts fable".[26][27][28]
Legal historianPaul Finkelman states that the central thesis of the book is "ludicrous and considered absurd by all serious scholars."[30]
HistorianGlenn C. Altschuler and Robert Summers calledThe Secret Relationship a "compendium of conspiracy theories."[31]
Classics scholarMary Lefkowitz called the book "hate literature" and wrote: "The authors ofThe Secret Relationship continually misquote Jewish sources, taking quotations out of context, or citing as support works that actually say the opposite of what they are claiming. They make a number of claims that are impossible to substantiate, such as that Jews (rather than Arabs) dominated the transatlantic slave trade; that they were the dominant slave traders and holders in the South; that they raped black women; that they infected Native Americans with smallpox...The known facts about the slave trade give a completely different picture of the level of Jewish participation."[32]
Seymour Drescher who analyzed the role of Jews in the overall Atlantic slave trade concluded that it was "minimal," and only identified certain regions (such asBrazil and theCaribbean) where the participation was "significant."[14]
Volume Two ofThe Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews was published in 2010, with the subtitle "How Jews Gained Control of the Black American Economy".[33] According to the Anti-Defamation League, Volume Two 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".[34]
Titled simplyThe Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews Volume 3, the third installment was published in 2016.[35] As summarized by the ADL, the work claims theresurgence of theKu Klux Klan and the subjugation of Black people during the early 20th century not only enriched but also was orchestrated by Jewish businessmen of the time. Further, the responsibility of the lynching ofLeo Frank was also the work of Jews.[36]
^abJews and the American Slave Trade,Saul S. Friedman, Transaction Publishers, 1999 pp. 2, 40.
^abcGilles KepelAllah in the West: Islamic movements in America and Europe, Stanford University Press, 1997 pp. 68–69.
^abEncyclopedia of American Jewish history, Vol. 1, p. 199.
^abcKlooster, Wim (2000). "Review of Jews, Slaves, and the Slave Trade: Setting the Record Straight".The William and Mary Quarterly.57 (1):217–219.doi:10.2307/2674369.ISSN0043-5597.JSTOR2674369.
^abDrescher: JANCAST: p. 455: "only in the Americas – momentarily in Brazil, more durably in the Caribbean – can the role of Jewish traders be described as significant." .. but elsewhere involvement was modest or minimal p. 455.
^Harold Brackman, Ph. D.; Harold Brackman Ph, D. (1994).Ministry of Lies: The Truth Behind the Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews. Basic Books.ISBN1568580169.
^Dinnerstein, Leonard; Friedman, Saul S. (1999). "Jews and the American Slave Trade".The American Historical Review.104 (1): 191.doi:10.2307/2650237.JSTOR2650237.
^Miller, Joseph C.; Faber, Eli; Friedman, Saul S. (December 1999). "Jews, Slaves, and the Slave Trade: Setting the Record Straight".The Journal of American History.86 (3): 1327.doi:10.2307/2568634.JSTOR2568634.
Austen, Ralph A., "The Uncomfortable Relationship: African Enslavement in the Common History of Blacks and Jews", inStrangers & neighbors: relations between Blacks & Jews in the United States, Maurianne Adams (Ed.), Univ of Massachusetts Press, 1999, pp. 131–135.
Brackman, Harold,Jew on the brain: A public refutation of the Nation of Islam's The Secret relationship between Blacks and Jews (self-published), 1992. Later renamed and re-published asFarrakhan's Reign of Historical Error: The Truth behind The Secret Relationship (published by theSimon Wiesenthal Center). Expanded into a book in 1994:Ministry of Lies: The Truth Behind the Nation of Islam's "the Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews" (published by Four Walls, Eight Windows).
Caplan, MarcJew-Hatred As History: An Analysis of the Nation of Islam's "The Secret Relationship" (published by theAnti Defamation League), 1993.
Davis, David Brion, "Jews in the Slave Trade", inCulturefront (Fall 1992) pp. 42–45.
Drescher, Seymour, "The Role of Jews in the Transatlantic Slave Trade", inStrangers & neighbors: relations between Blacks & Jews in the United States, Maurianne Adams (Ed.), Univ of Massachusetts Press, 1999, pp. 105–115.
Drescher, Seymour, (EAJH) "Jews and the Slave trade", inEncyclopedia of American Jewish history, Volume 1, Stephen Harlan (Ed.), 1994, pp. 414–416.
Drescher, Seymour, (JANCAST) "Jews and New Christians in the Atlantic Slave Trade" inThe Jews and the Expansion of Europe to the West, 1400–1800, Paolo Bernardini (Ed.), 2004, pp. 439–484.
Faber, Eli,Jews, Slaves, and the Slave Trade: Setting the Record Straight, New York University Press, 1998.[ISBN missing]
Friedman, Saul S.Jews and the American Slave Trade, Transaction, 1999.[ISBN missing]
