Leon Weinstein in all his glory!

This is placed in my blog with a delay (I actually didn’t have a blog back then).

In the morning of May 10th I’ve received the following message by email¬†from Leon Weinstein. He sent it to a large group of recipients, mostly Russian immigrants.

From Leon:

I am usually not forwarding other people’s emails or u-tube videous.
This one however is a must. I am not joking, this is a must. The black guy who is talking about Obama is one of the most couragious people I ever encounter. WOW! Please click, view and forward. LW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfyHQ2PjLz

¬†¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† —-end Leon’s quote.

So, I decided to watch the video and it started the chain of absolutely amazing and also sad events, that I consider worth telling you about.

I really urge you to watch the video, especially the very end of it, and also read the comments - it will help you understand what I will talk about better.

In short, after some preliminary statements, mostly making some sense and designed obviously to set the stage for the most important message to white America, the pastor delivers the following warning:
If you elect Barack Hussein Obama (note “Hussein”), the black America¬†will rise and trash you, White America, “all the way back to the¬†plantations of Mississippi”.

I watched once more and read all the comments, and my conclusion was¬†that this pastor, whom Leon called “one of the most courageous people”¬†he ever encountered, is either insane, or possessed, or is hired by¬†far-right functionaries.

It left such an awful aftertaste in my mouth, mostly because I had¬†the misfortune to encounter some of the manifestations of this kind¬†of “self-racism” in my life (like Jew-on-Jew hatred) and always hated¬†it.

So, I sat down and wrote a pretty long response (or a short essay) on¬†the matter and was about to send it to Leon and also to all those¬†whom he sent the original message to. At this time my wife looked¬†over my shoulder and said that it was too long and elaborate, and why¬†don’t I just send something sarcastic and short.

Well, I followed her advice, here is what I’ve sent to all the recipients:¬†¬†

From Alexei to Leon and others:

Yes, Obama is a muslim and a monster, there is a worldwide¬†secret organization of blacks against whites and Jews, it¬†is well known that they drink the blood of white and Jewish¬†babies and Obama, if he becomes a president, will employ¬†a “final solution” of enslaving or exterminating all whites.

Yes, we all end up as slaves on the plantation in Mississippi. See you there!

Alexei Zoubov

PS: Einstein once said: “Two things are infinite: the universe¬†and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe”.¬†He would love both the video and the accompanying note.¬†¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬†——— end my quote

As I thought it would be obvious, I just expanded on the last¬†sentences of this “courageous” pastor, whom Leon admires so much,¬†using the exaderation, called “ad absurdum”, in order to make it¬†too outrageous to be considered either true or serious.

Obviously, I didn’t succeed, with Leon it didn’t click at all!

Here is what he sent me in response:

From Leon:

Dear Alexi,

I think it is very racist to write things like that about¬†African Americans. I understand that you came from the¬†Soviet Union where you never saw blacks, but by now you¬†shall know that they also people, and that the fact that you¬†have white skin doesn’t make you better person then someone¬†with black, brown, yellow or green skin. But even if you¬†think that someone is inferior then you, this type of¬†thoughts you shall keep to yourself.

Sorry, but without any respect,

Leon Weinstein¬†¬†¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬†——— End Leon’s quote

At first I couldn’t believe my eyes, It took me several readings to¬†sink in what the implication was. I called my wife and she couldn’t¬†believe it either. I showed this exchange to some of my friends -all of them suggested that I drop it, that explaining anything was a¬†hopless endeavor.

Unfortunately I didn’t listen and tried to explain the matter:

Alexei to Leon:

That’s amazing that you didn’t understand a joke and a¬†sarcasm. I mistakenly believed that you know what “ad¬†absurdum” means. That makes my quote of Einstein even more¬†to the point.

I, as most of my friends, perceived the video, as well as¬†your note as an awful racist proclamation against Obama,¬†using absolutely insane rambling of this “courageous”¬†pastor against his own people.

Don’t you understand that this video was a perfect example¬†of “reverse” racism, otherwise why “Warning to white¬†America?” The same reverse racism that makes some Jews¬†anti-semite? Even the title,”Warning to white America” is¬†racist. So, your suggestion to take this video seriously I¬†consider very racist in itself.

Read my note again and try to think this time, that’s all I¬†can say. And your lecture doesn’t apply to me, I¬† actually¬†prefer to deal with blacks more than with many of my white¬†compatriots

And I’m actually voting for Obama.

AZ

PS: Ad absurdum: an argument carried to such lengths that it¬†becomes silly or ridiculous.¬†¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬†—- end my quote.

Well, this one didn’t click ether. The response I got showed that¬†Leon was still wandering in his own version of reality:

From Leon:

Dear Mr. Zubov,

I personlly think that your statement or even a “joke” (as¬†you now trying to say) that blacks drink Jewish blood is¬†racist. Sorry, I will have my computer reject all futureemails from you because I think that statements like “some¬†of my friends are black” are racist and distasteful.

NO¬†RESPECT SIR. LW ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬†¬†——— End Leon’s quote

That’s¬† utterly amazing. Nothing penetrates. He still thinks that I¬†really¬† accuse blacks of drinking Jewish blood!!???? And I didn’t¬†say “some of my friends are black”! I said that I “prefer to deal¬†with blacks more than with many of my white compatriots” - wich is true, if only because I’m a jazz musician! Leon¬†definitely placed himself in this group of my compatriots I don’t¬†want to deal with at all. I always considered him a fairly intelligent person, in spite many of my friends disagreeing with this opinion. After his last note it became obvious that the intelligence (if it was there) left him for good and he has that special reactionary ideological insanity that puts him in the same category as Ann Coulter.

Nothing more to say. If you didn’t lose the patience completely. here is¬†my first response to Leon’s first message (the one I didn’t send).

    From Alexei:

    Hello, whoever wants to listen.

It is not the first time that Leon Weinstein is sending me and probably you the messages and links to some videos  that essentially designed to explore and build up racial and partisan tensions.

I’ve watched the video¬† he advised me to see with the¬†feeling of my intelligence being¬† deeply offended.¬†Not only because of what I think of this pastor’s speech -¬†I find the main message of it, which is getting “white¬†America” scared of blacks, pretty sickening, but also¬†because Leon, although he doesn’t know me really¬† well,¬†thinks so low of me, that he expects me to share his view¬†about the message and his admiration of this pastor.

There was (and probably still is) in Moscow a composer Ovchinnikov, who approached me once, and after making sure that I am a real Russian, not a Jew, poured streams of most disgusting anti-semitic propaganda on me, telling me that all evil comes from Jews and that they rule Mother Russia, etc. He thought I would be sympathetic - I was definitely not and made it clear that I oppose racism in any form.

Why do  I think this story is related - the fact is, Ovchinnikov was a Jew, which made it all even more disgusting.

So, the pastor Leon admires so much, wants us (whites) to be¬†scared of his own people and Leon applauds? Isn’t it clear that¬†this is black-on-black racism, similar to Ovchinnikov’s¬†Jew-on-Jew anti-semitism? Or - another option - this pastor¬†is so afraid of Obama becoming the president, that he is¬†eager to sell out his own people to prevent that? And that’s¬†what Leon calls courage

Only a person that doesn’t know me at all could think that¬†this video would evoke in me the same feelings Leon had.¬†I felt sick to my stomach and saddened not only by the¬†message, but also by the fact that anybody could really¬†admire the “courage” of this pastor and expect others to do¬†the same - and forward the link to others.

I’m not writing this to support Obama or anybody else. I’m¬†writing this in support of simple human decency that was¬†lacking in the video, in Leon’s opinion about it and in his responses.

Leon, don’t you have any shame?

Alexei Zoubov