Jonathan Metzl on Being Targeted by Nazis Because of His Book "Dying of Whiteness" and Tim Wise Reflects on What It Means to be Jewish in the Age of Trump

There are two guests on this week’s episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show.

Jonathan Metzl is the Frederick B. Rentschler II Professor of Sociology and Psychiatry, and the director of the Center for Medicine, Health, and Society, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

He is the author of several books, including Prozac on the Couch and The Protest Psychosis. His new book is Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment is Killing America’s Heartland.

Dr. Metzl shares what it was like when Nazis descended upon his talk about Dying of Whiteness last Saturday at the Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington D.C.. Dr. Metzl locates this latest example of Trump-inspired right-wing hooligan behavior within a broader context of anti-Semitism and racism in America.

Metzl also reflects on the moral crisis inflicting Republicans and other conservatives who continue to support Donald Trump and his regime.

Tim Wise is the author of numerous books including his most recent Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Sacrificing the Future of America.

Wise connects the harassment of Dr. Metzl to a series of events last week which saw a lethal Nazi attack on a Jewish synagogue in California as well as Donald Trump continuing to lie about and literally whitewash his comments about the Nazi and other white supremacist lethal mob action in Charlottesville in 2017.

Wise explains how whiteness, privilege and Jewish identity are connected to one another in a complicated and complex way–this is especially true in a moment of resurgent hatred against Jewish folks. Wise also highlights why white right-wing Christian terrorists are not considered a real threat by Trump’s regime and many other (white) Americans.

Tim Wise makes it clear: this is a moment of existential crisis in America and there is no room for sitting on the sidelines and not fighting back against right-wing thugs who want to overturn America’s multiracial democracy.

On this week’s show, Chauncey DeVega calls out, again, why William Barr and the Trump regime must be stopped as together they are working to destroy the rule of law and to make Trump into a king or emperor for life. Chauncey also honors Riley Howell, the UNC Charlotte college student who gave his life in the heroic defense of others.