In a change of heart, Amazon has dropped white nationalist books
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Aiden Pink February 10, 2020
Amazon has removed several white nationalist and anti-Semitic books from its website, a change from its past policy of defending the sale of objectionable publications, The New York Times reported Sunday.
While the online marketplace has frequently removed things like anti-Semitic action figures and Christmas ornaments listed for purchase by third-party sellers, it has traditionally not been as quick to remove books, the Times reported.
But that appears to be changing. Tomes such as David Duke’s “My Awakening: A Path to Racial Understanding” and the Nation of Islam tract “The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews” are no longer listed for purchase.
Some users think the platform has gone too far. A book documenting the creation of the Amazon Prime show “The Man in the High Castle,” which imagines what would have happened if the Nazis won World War II, digitally erased swastikas from set photos. The book’s publisher, Titan, said Amazon approved those changes, while Amazon said they didn’t make any editorial edits to the photos.
“If you can’t even have swastikas shown in a book about Nazis taking over America, please do not make books ever again,” one reviewer wrote on Amazon.
To be sure, some anti-Semitic books are still available, such as Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.” But booksellers told the Times that Amazon ordered them to remove certain books without specifying why, or provide guidelines for what should and shouldn’t be made available for purchase.
“I’m not going to argue for the wider distribution of Nazi material,” said Kansas bookstore owner Danny Caine. “But I still don’t trust Amazon to be the arbiters of free speech. What if Amazon decided to pull books representing a less despicable political viewpoint? Or books critical of Amazon’s practices?”
There are no First Amendment implications for these issues; as a private business, Amazon has the right to sell or not sell whatever books it wishes.
Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor of the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aidenpink
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
