Anne Frank trended on Twitter over the weekend, but not because of her world-famous diary, writing talent, or death by the Nazis.
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No. Twitter debated whether Frank had "white privilege." Yes, the Jewish teenager, who hid from the Nazis with her family in an attic for two years and eventually died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, was – according to some tweets – lucky to have been born the "right" color.
At first sight, the debate seems baffling, but the deeper one digs, the more one realizes that hatred against everything white can be just as strong as hatred against everything that is black.
It began with a minor change in wording, with most tweets saying Frank was "killed," rather than "murdered." Some users had heard about her, but most had no real idea about her story. For them, the mere fact that Frank was white was enough to form an opinion.
The next stage was Holocaust denial. One user recalled that while watching an item about concentration camps with her partner and father, the former declared that Jews made up the Holocaust.
For if the victim is a white girl whose father was a businessman, then she cannot possibly be oppressed. And if she later became famous, then surely she must have had connections that helped her pave the way to stardom.
All whites are protected by their skin color, another user claimed. Because Frank was white, she automatically received the kind of protection Blacks cannot.
The fact that Frank was born into a completely different world, culture, and time made no difference in the debate. In their opinion, war-time Germany, Holland, and the streets of Baltimore where Freddie Gray was killed are the same.
And that is scary. Not because someone dared touch the subject of Frank, who has become a symbol. Many such symbols are targeted daily.
It is scary because such a debate, in which hundreds of thousands participated, revealed the depth of ignorance, stupidity, and foolishness of many young people, in this case, Americans. They are so invested in their agenda that they are willing to sacrifice anything for it, including the memory of the extermination of six million people.
Everything is mixed: slavery, racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, and the thinking that my struggle allows me to trample on others' suffering and manipulate it in my interest. History is a tool to prove how right I am. I am most aware of my own needs but see no one besides myself.
Victimhood is a terrible trait. All the more so when it seeks validation at all times and adapts the facts to fit its agenda. If you die of hunger, cold, and sickness, you do not have privilege. Period. Not even if you experienced all of the above and survived.
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