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Amazon CEO Says Banning ‘Hebrews To Negroes’ From Bookstore Would Be A Slippery Slope

Amazon CEO Says Banning ‘Hebrews To Negroes’ From Bookstore Would Be A Slippery Slope

Hebrews To Negroes

PHOTOS: Andy Jassy arrives at the premiere of "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" at The Culver Studios on Monday, Aug. 15, 2022, in Culver City, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) / Hebrews To Negroes Film Cover Art.

After NBA star Kyrie Irving posted a link to “Hebrews To Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” the book and movie became a bestseller on Amazon – despite many deeming it hate-filled and antisemitic.

The author and creator, Ronald Dalton Jr., disagreed and said many feared the film’s message that Black people are the true Israelites by blood gaining more popularity.

Hundreds of people – including celebrities Mila Kunis, Mayim Balik, Debra Messing and Diane Warren – signed a petition calling for Amazon to remove the book and film. Now Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy has come out and said the platform would continue to carry the works.

According to a report by Deadline, Jassy said removing any works “whose primary purpose is not to espouse hate” is a “very slippery slope.” He added content moderation for the platform “is one of the trickiest issues we deal with.”

“Some cases are more straightforward — if you have works that actively promote or incite violence, or teaches people how to do things like pedophilia, those are easy. We don’t allow those,” Jassy explained. “When you have content whose primary purpose is not to espouse hate or ascribe negative characteristics to people, that is much trickier and a very slippery slope if we take a lot of those out of the store.”

Jassy further explained Amazon boasts “hundreds of millions of customers with lots of different viewpoints.” Hence “we have to be able to allow access to those viewpoints even if they are objectionable and even if they differ from our own personal viewpoints.” 

In an exclusive 2019 interview with Moguldom before the Kyrie Irving controversy, Dalton said the Hebrews To Negroes books and film had already received lots of pushback but was not antisemitic.

“It’s a growing movement that is happening among Black people all over the world, in the Caribbean, United Kingdom, Africa and other countries; and it really kind of all started from Blacks in America searching for their identity,” Dalton said. “It needs to be covered and it needs to be discussed in the right way because the European and Western media would try to put a spin on it and make it seem as though we’re a hate group and anti-Semitic and all this other stuff, but that’s not the case.”

He also discouraged the methods some Hebrew Israelites have become known for, including factions that preach the white man is the devil.

“Nowadays, it seems like a lot of times we don’t ask questions,” Dalton said. “We don’t use our brains and think for ourselves and use critical thinking and logic and say, ‘I understand we went through slavery and it was hard and they did a huge number on us, but that doesn’t mean that we have to go out and wake up people and at the same time preach all this hate towards other nations.’ There’s a different way that you can teach history and not all the (Black Hebrew) Israelites worldwide are like that.”

He expressed his satisfaction with Amazon’s decision not to remove his book and films on Nov. 30.

“HEBREWS TO NEGROES MOVIES AND BOOKS ARE STAYING ON AMAZON. PEOPLE CAN GET MAD ALL THEY WANT,” Dalton tweeted. “I AM WORKING AS WE SPEAK ON DOING MOVIE SCREENINGS IN THE UK, THE CARIBBEAN & AFRICA. PEOPLE WILL KNOW WHO ARE THE TRUE ISRAELITES WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT.”

He also included a link to the Hebrews To Negroes website.

Irving, Dalton and the Hebrews To Negroes film received immense backlash and Irving was suspended for not answering reporter’s questions in a way the Brooklyn Nets deemed fit. 

The controversy caused a significant debate, with many Black Americans taking up for Irving and calling for a boycott on the team, the NBA and Nike, who dropped Irving from his endorsement deal.

Irving has not publicly commented on Jassy’s statements, but he posted a tweet on Dec. 1 that said, “Protect your Soul. Peace of mind is priceless.”

https://twitter.com/KyrieIrving/status/1598438150094966794

He also changed his pinned tweet to one from June in which he encouraged people to find others who supported them and stay true to their convictions.

“Find Your Tribe. It’s a war outside. Do not sugarcoat WTF is going on. Speak on everything you’re seeing and whenever you’re ready to unplug…. The TRUTH vs The LIE,” Irving’s pinned tweet states.

https://twitter.com/KyrieIrving/status/1541088324890243072

Social media users also weighed in.

“Sounds like the [Amazon] CEO watched it or had others watch it before he made his decision. Either way, good stuff,” @primitiv3author responded to Dalton.

“So all the people who claimed Kyrie was antisemitic will be issuing him an apology and returning whatever money he donated to them, right? Anything short of that is rank hypocrisy if they aren’t going after Amazon with the same energy they had for Kyrie,” @SoulfulSugar2 chimed in.

“Thank you Yahweh!!!!!! This film and book only gives info…nothing about either promote violence…and Mr. Dalton’s work so he gets paid when you buy or rent it,” @DaGoddess100 tweeted.

PHOTOS: Andy Jassy arrives at the premiere of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” at The Culver Studios on Monday, Aug. 15, 2022, in Culver City, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) / Hebrews To Negroes Film Cover Art.