Reckoning with Jewish Supremacy and White Supremacy: A Conversation with Peter Beinart and Ta-Nehisi Coates

Saturday
February 8, 2025

What do we do when the stories we’ve told ourselves turn out to be lies? When we realize that they’ve contributed to domination and blinded us to suffering? In the face of communal hypocrisy, how can we imagine new stories of who we are and who we might become?

Jewish Currents is honored to host a conversation between two leading thinkers whose work is guided by these questions: Ta-Nehisi Coates and Peter Beinart. In his recent book The Message, Coates explores how American politics and media shape narratives that obscure realities of injustice—from histories that erase the United States’ legacy of white supremacy to a vision of Israel that denies the regime of apartheid under which Palestinians live. And in Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza, Beinart asks how the American Jewish community, which prides itself on a commitment to social justice, has managed to justify such blatant brutality.

Join us for a discussion about how we can begin to reckon with these stories and their terrible consequences—and tell new ones together.

Tickets to this event are free for Jewish Currents members. Non-member tickets are available for a suggested donation of $9. Not in New York, or unable to attend in-person? Get a virtual ticket: free for members, or a suggested donation of $9 for non-members.

Note: in-person tickets for this event are now sold out, but virtual tickets are still available. We hope you’ll join Peter Beinart and Ta-Nehisi Coates on the livestream for this special evening. Registration is required.

This event is taking place in-person at First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn at 124 Henry Street in Brooklyn, on the corner with Clark Street. The discussion will take place in the Sanctuary, which is accessible for wheelchair users without prior arrangements. Doors will open at 7pm, with the talk beginning at 7:30pm. Seating is first come, first served.

For attendees watching by livestream, you will receive a link closer to the event date. Please reach out to events@jewishcurrents.org with any accessibility accommodations or other questions.

Peter Beinart teaches national reporting and opinion writing at the Newmark J-School and political science at the CUNY Graduate Center. He is the editor-at-large of Jewish Currents, an MSNBC political commentator, author of The Beinart Notebook on Substack, a fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace, and the author of Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza.

Ta-Nehisi Coates is an award-winning author and journalist. His books include Between The World and Me and The Water Dancer. He is currently a writer-in-residence at Howard University.

This event is free for Jewish Currents members. In addition to our print and digital subscriptions, we now have a membership program. This new initiative is for those hungry for community, learning, and conversation. By becoming a member, you will receive our print magazine, invitations to exclusive events, and more.

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