The 43rd Annual Jerome Nemer Lecture titled “Christian Supremacy: Reckoning with the Roots of Antisemitism and Racism” was held at USC’s Town and Gown Hall on Sunday. The lecture was presented by the USC Casden Institute, Hebrew Union College and USC Shoah Foundation.
The event was named after Jerome Nemer, a basketball player and the first Jewish athlete to captain a major sports team at USC in 1933. Nemer’s grandson, Joseph Green, was present at the lecture.
The lecture was a historically grounded presentation by Dr. Magda Teter, Shvidler Chair in Judaic Studies and professor of history at Fordham University in New York. It was followed by a response by Dr. Diane Winston, Knight Center Chair in Media and Religion and professor of journalism and religion at USC.
The lecture shed light on antisemitism in the current world. Teter, who specializes in Jewish-Christian relations, presented the audience with research and analysis from her book “Christian Supremacy: Reckoning with the Roots of Antisemitism and Racism.”
As Teter defined the term Christian supremacy, she clarified, “I do not want this word to trigger you, because I use it in a very specific way. By supremacy, I mean the use of the power of the state and the use of law.”
She said she was open to the fact that people might disagree with her thoughts, but she hoped that — even in that disagreement — people would ask new questions or leave with new thoughts.
Teter, through her work, said she is trying for her readers to understand how the modern idea of equality clashes with the existing ideas of social hierarchies, mostly based on Christian identity. Modern nations, when discussing citizenship and equal rights, invent a new “We,” which leads to questions of who exactly this “We” is.
Hagit Arieli-Chai, visiting PhD scholar in Jewish studies at USC Casden Institute, said she enjoyed the presentation and learning more about the parallels between antisemitism and racism.
“The lecture gave us a good overview to understand the roots and the power play between them,” she said.
Winston followed Teter with a personal anecdote from her own life. She said her grandfather changed his name from “Weinstein” to “Winston” to avoid being targeted because of antisemitism when he first immigrated to the U.S. in the 20th century.
“Antisemitism, I realized that day, is only a name away,” Winston said.
Dr. Steve Ross, professor of history and director of USC Casden Institute, concluded the lecture by saying, “There is nothing better than having given a talk where people walk away thinking I have learned something important that I didn’t know.
In a conversation with Annenberg Media, Teter raised her concerns beyond antisemitism and racism. She stressed that in the current era of online misinformation and fake news, she feels understanding history is especially important.
“The polarization that we are witnessing in the country and our inability to stop and discern and think deeply – then we are responding very emotionally to these various images and slogans on social media – without stopping or actually thinking them through,” she said.