Women’s March Lobbies FDR To Turn Away ‘Privileged’ MS St. Louis

The position dovetails with that of Secretary of State Cordell Hull and of civic organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan.

Washington, December 25 – Leaders of a prominent progressive group sent letters today to US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt not to admit a boat full of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, urging him to consider the negative impact of adding even more privileged whites to the population.

Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory, and Carmen Perez petitioned the president Tuesday to refuse entry visas to the passengers of the MS St. Louis, European Jews fleeing persecution under the regime of Adolf Hitler, because Jews are white and thus uphold white supremacy.

“We urge the president to weigh the noxious effects of admitting white supremacists to this country, which already faces societal divisions and racial violence,” they wrote. “The United States is not the place for such people.”

“Please note the irony in the name of the vessel on which they have arrived,” the letter continued. “It carries the name of St. Louis, a city not far from Ferguson, Missouri, where ‘Black Lives Matter’ became a household term. Are we going to betray the progressive legacy of that movement by welcoming those whose skin color represents  betrayal of everything this society should aspire to uphold?”

The St. Louis set sail from its home port of Hamburg, Germany, and motored toward Cuba, which retroactively canceled the landing permits in the possession of most passengers and only allowed several dozen to disembark at Havana. Captain Gustav Schröder then took a route along the coast Florida as he continues to negotiate with US authorities over acceptance of the refugees. Senior American officials remain divided over whether to admit or reject the Jews; the Women’s March leaders’ letter represents a new voice on the issue, but one that dovetails with the positions of Secretary of State Cordell Hull and civic organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan.

In a telephone interview, Ms. Mallory stressed that not all Jews deserve the categorization of “white” or “white supremacist.” “I would like to be clear that only those who trade on their white privilege are the ones everyone should shun,” she asserted. “It’s not like Muslims, who can’t be labeled en masse as ‘terrorists’ or ‘extremists’ because of the actions of a small minority. We’re talking about Jews here, after all, and it only makes sense to treat them all as having been involved in the slave trade, the disempowerment of people of color, and other horrible crimes.”

Please support our work through Patreon.