Marc Lamont Hill (Photo: Columbia University)
Author and academic Marc Lamont Hill is under fire for his recent comments defending the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) against Elon Musk’s accusations. Hill’s remarks have led to criticism and accusations of him being compromised.
The ADL is a non-profit organization that works to combat hate speech and anti-Semitism.
Musk, the billionaire behind the Twitter/X social platform, claimed on social media that the ADL’s ads were responsible for a significant drop in the platform’s ad revenue. Furthermore, he alleged that the ADL was falsely accusing him and the platform of being anti-Semitic.
The ADL has previously alleged antisemitism has become widespread on Twitter/X since Musk’s takeover: In May, it released a report after monitoring 65 previously banned accounts that had been reinstated, finding more than 5,000 examples from February 2023 of “virulent antisemitism” posted by 2,173 accounts that followed reinstated accounts, Forbes reported.
Musk shot back that “document discovery of all communications between The ADL and advertisers will tell the full story” of his allegations that the ADL tanked the social media platform’s revenue.
Hill condemned Musk’s attack as “dangerous, dishonest, and deeply antisemitic.” Hill also criticized the platform’s lack of control over hate speech.
But many social media users condemned Hill for supporting the ADL, which they view as “anti-Black, racist, media-manipulating, narrative-spinning.”
Some questioned Hill’s allegiance to the ADL, given that the organization had previously labeled him an anti-Semite and contributed to the end of his contract with CNN in 2018.
BET News host Hill is currently a presidential professor for urban education at the City University of New York has hired. Hill has authored a number of books; his latest is 2022’s “Seen and Unseen: Technology, Social Media, and the Fight for Racial Justice.”
CNN fired contributor Hill for criticizing Israel and was accused of anti-Semitism after he called for “free Palestine from the river to the sea” when he delivered a speech at the United Nations in 2018 accusing Israel of “state violence and ethnic cleansing” and called for a one-state solution, Al-Jazeera reported at the time.
Seeming to understand that his current stance may seem contradictory to his words in 2018, Hill clarified his position by explaining that he does not view his defense of the ADL as supporting them directly but as speaking out against Musk’s actions.
He argued that Musk promotes white nationalist hate that endangers society, emphasizing the importance of moral consistency.
For his part, Musk simply responded to Hill by posting “Bizarre…”
Hill responded with a detailed explanation of his perspective. Hill continued to clarify that he doesn’t believe the ADL deserves support but emphasized the need to challenge both Musk, whom he accused of collaborating with Nazis, and the ADL for its attacks on various groups.
“I see it as speaking out against Musk, who consistently foments white nationalist hate that threatens all of us. We have to have moral consistency. But also, it is politically and strategically wise to fight Nazis,” Hill wrote.
He added, “So let’s keep challenging him for working with Nazis, who are our open enemies, while also continuing to challenge the ADL for its attacks on Muslims and Arabs and Palestinians, etc.”
Marc Lamont Hill (Photo: Columbia University, https://towcenter.columbia.edu/content/marc-lamont-hill)
