Aw Anon, that blows
So, I was talking with someone who was feeling pretty down about having a Cap tattoo right now, and I’ll tell you what I told them:
You know, having him in ink means you own him, you own that piece of him the same way we all do, and nobody’s allowed to say what happens with your piece of Captain America. So in that sense you’ve got more right than most to say it’s bullshit and ignore it.
Jewish people made Captain America and his origin story is inherently intertwined with the combat of anti-Semitism. Which means you, also, as a Jewish person, own a piece of Captain America that’s larger than most, and you get to say it’s bullshit and ignore it. And be angry about it, too. But never forget that you own part of this story, and they can’t take away seventy years of your ownership.
Marvel may, institutionally, be supporting a rank piece of antisemitism. I won’t disagree. But the best way to combat this particular incident, at least in my admittedly gentile opinion, is to continue to support good, solid, inclusive books and to let this one languish. Every time a writer writes a book that tanks, that’s one step further from writing another; every time an editor backs a book that tanks, that’s a vote of no-confidence in their next stupid book. The winds are changing. Slowly, but they are. Reward the good, punish the bad. Teach Marvel that it can’t make money off this kind of behavior, and it’ll stop doing it. Yell as loud as you want, they deserve it, but if you’re tired and sad and can’t yell, all you have to do is Not Buy the book, which is very easy to do. I know sometimes the fight is exhausting. I give you permission to just Not Buy the book.
But that doesn’t balm the soul. So I hope this does: remember that when it comes to Cap, you own your piece of him, and you are allowed to say no, this is untrue, and ignore anyone who says otherwise. I know it doesn’t help with the betrayal, but hopefully it helps you to keep loving this character, and to keep proud ownership of his Jewish roots.