DSA is acting more like KKK

To the editor:

No one suspects me of being a supporter of U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman. I campaigned against him and hope he will be primaried in the next election, since I strongly disagree with his politics.

Today, I write to stand with him in solidarity against the racism of the Democratic Socialists of America, who have singled him out for the color of his skin. There is no other way to explain it.

Recently, DSA Palestine filed a motion to expel Congressman Bowman for breaking with its policy and attending a J Street event. While J Street is a strongly pro-Palestinian organization, that was a line too far for DSA, since J Street does recognize Israel’s right to exist.

The statement read that the DSA’s national political committee and working group met with Rep. Bowman and his team. Since that meeting, Rep. Bowman’s office “communicated that they were not ready to accept our most significant demands, including refusing to rescind participation in the J Street town hall, and discontinuing his relationship with the Zionist lobby, equivocating on supporting the Defend the 6 Resolution, and no clear commitment to opposing any future funding for the state of Israel.

“For this reason, in conjunction with his other recent actions, we call for the NPC to formally begin the process of expelling Jamaal Bowman from the DSA.”

And yet, while Congressman Bowman may have crossed the line of DSA policy while doing this, Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib also broke with DSA policy in 2020 when endorsing President Biden. They were not expelled.

The difference? The only difference I can see is Congressman Bowman being a Black man, and them feeling like they can get away with it.

It is unconscionable that, in 2021, an organization that calls itself “progressive,” should be able to attack and exclude someone for the color of their skin without severe repercussions from the progressive community. While the DSA has taken extreme positions on many issues, racial exclusion of this sort is no different than KKK segregationists attempting to exclude Black folks in the South.

While many entertain the DSA’s extremist — and sometimes even militant — rhetoric with amusement, their expulsion of Congressman Bowman cannot go without condemnation. Those who consider themselves progressives and stand by as a Black member of Congress is treated differently because of the color of his skin will be reminded later of their tolerance for racism and discrimination.

While I strongly disagree with his politics, today, I stand with Congressman Jamaal Bowman against the blatant racism of the DSA, and the discrimination he and many Black folks experience in spaces affiliated with Justice Democrats and American socialists.

We will always stand against racism.

Elchanan Poupko

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