Feeling blue, seeing red over politics

South Africans living in the United States (US) described a mixture of exhaustion over the US’s divisive politics and concern about their presidential candidates’ support for Israel as they took to the polls on 5 November.

Emma Gordon Blass (54) has been a US resident since 2000. She grew up in Johannesburg, and now lives in the swing state of North Carolina. She cast her ballot a week prior to election day, taking advantage of the early in-person voting sites to avoid the time-consuming inconvenience on voting day.

“If you think about US politics and its two enormous parties amassed against each other, the image that comes to mind is a war-time battlefield where everyone seeks safety in a tribe, and the least safe place is the middle ground,” she said. “Ironically, that’s where most people I know are; somewhere in the middle.”

Almost everyone Blass spoke to agreed that they just want the election to be over. They’re sick and tired of talking politics. “Even my rabbi nodded unusually enthusiastically when I said to him that politics has become an arena for the exercise of the yetzer hara [evil inclination], and what we do with it is mainly chet [sin],” she said.

“I know few South Africans here or back home who aren’t extremely jaded about politics, but we fear giving up on the left-progressive enthusiasm of our youth because we grew up in the sin of apartheid, and we want to have nothing to do with right-wing, racist anything. Now, with Elon Musk as the most famous and vilified ex-South African in the news spotlight, we find ourselves again having to double-down on our never-racist protestations, back to explaining and justifying ourselves like we did in the 80s.

“As Jewish people, we have the added quandary that most Israelis would like us to vote Republican, even though both parties claim steadfast support for Israel. American Jews, ex-South Africans included, are afraid to show their support publicly for Israel because of potential retaliation and ostracism. We talk about being the new Maranos! All in all, I find the question of who to align with politically fraught, and the whole idea of ‘the personal is political’ has produced too much doubt and handwringing. For the first time in my life, I see the merits of trying to be apolitical, although clearly, this political junky is having a hard time staying on the wagon!”

“In California, we lean blue, especially in Los Angeles,” said Daniel Seeff (36), a technology entrepreneur who left South Africa 18 years ago to study at the University of Central Florida, and never came back home.

“My kids go to a Jewish school, and with everything happening in Israel this past year, there’s a stronger Republican presence. This mix has caused some tension among my friends who have different political views. Personally, I’m excited the elections are over so we can move on and hopefully have fewer arguments.”

An ex-Capetonian businessman and entrepreneur who left South Africa back in 1986 requested anonymity, he said, because of “the toxic environment and the polarisation of American society”.

“It’s naïve to believe that Trump deserves the support of American Jewry based on his potential support of Israel,” the businessman said. “He hasn’t proven any level of support, other than to say that if the Democrats win, it’s the Jews of America’s fault. He has also never walked back his support of neo-Nazis, calling them ‘fine people’.

“As a Jewish, ex-South African emigrant to the US, I will be supporting the Harris-Walz team for their rational, sane, and tested economic policies, their support of the Obamacare medical policies, their support of women’s healthcare and overall women’s rights, and their continued support of Israel.”

Emma Mirkin (36), and her husband, Gary (36), live in what she describes as “very liberal” Seattle. Although both were unable to vote in this election as they are still waiting for their US citizenship, Gary, who works in logistics, said, “As a South African Jew with the context of having lived in a country that has an aggressive anti-Israel stance, my perspective on the election is unique among other Jews living in the US.

“The risk of a presidential candidate who is not 100% for Israel or has even the slightest question mark regarding Israel, is concerning,” Gary said. “I have seen many left-leaning Jewish friends really struggle to come to terms with the fact that their socially preferred candidate is in fact not the preferred candidate for Israel.”