Nazi Germany began to trend on Twitter on Monday after journalist Jemele Hill tweeted that America was as bad as the Third Reich.
She tweeted that she had been reading Isabel Wilkerson’s new book, ‘Caste,’ and said: "if you were of the opinion that the United States wasn’t nearly as bad as Nazi Germany, how wrong you are" and encouraged her audience to read what she called a "masterpiece".
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) August 23, 2020
The comment caused waves on Twitter seeing some commenters call her review "delusional" while others were outraged at her alleged lack of sensitivity towards the victims of Nazism.
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) August 23, 2020
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) August 23, 2020
— Inez Stepman (@InezFeltscher) August 23, 2020
— David Wolpe (@RabbiWolpe) August 24, 2020
Some history buffs were also quick to offer their opinions.
— Amy Lutz (@amylutz4) August 23, 2020
— Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) August 24, 2020
Some, however, took Ms Hill's comments more seriously and highlighted how Nazi German death camps and racial policy took their inspiration from the United States.
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) August 24, 2020
— Mathew Foresta (@ForestaWriter) August 24, 2020
Some even compared US President Donald Trump to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
— austin loucks (@austinloucks7) August 24, 2020
— Trinity (@TrinityResists) August 24, 2020
In 2017, Hill, who now writes for The Atlantic, described President Trump as a “white supremacist” on Twitter.
The 59-year-old author of Caste, Isabel Wilkerson, won the National Book Critics Circle award in 2011 for another book “The Warmth of Other Suns,” which outlines black migration from the South throughout the early 20th century.
The book observes American history and the experience of black people. It describes US society as an enduring, unseen and unmentioned caste system — similar to India or Nazi Germany — which has not yet been sufficiently dealt with.
The issue of race relations in the United States has become increasingly heated in recent months following the death of George Floyd, an African American man, at the hands of law enforcement - leading to widespread protests over the ongoing legacy of white supremacy in the country.
