Dearest Stephen,

I am an Orthodox Jew, whose great grandparents were put into ovens by Hitler and the Nazis. I wrote a letter last night to DeSean Jackson expressing my forgiveness for ignorant and hurtful statements that were falsely attributed to Hitler. I expressed to him that I appreciated his apology and remorse, and dedication to educating himself on anti-Semitism and the painful history of the Jewish People.

Judaism believes that people can make mistakes, express genuine remorse about what they said or did, and ultimately change their ways and become better people. Based on DeSean’s apology, it seems like he is off to a promising start.

You on the other hand, have acted in quite the opposite way. You made a reprehensible and deeply offensive post on Instagram that said DeSean was speaking the truth. I am not sure what you meant, but it seems that you meant to verify DeSean’s post, which, although incoherent, seemed to suggest that “white Jews will black mail America and extort them on their way to world denomination.”

Someone must have told you last night that your post was not very nice; that maybe you ought to take it down. I assume someone told that to DeSean Jackson as well after his post. And like DeSean, you did take your post down.

So you and DeSean acted in a similar manner in that you both made a post on Instagram that was deeply offensive to Jews like myself. But this, Stephen, is where the similarity ends.

After DeSean took down his post he issues a series of apologies. I am no mind reader, but on his instagram post, he looked distressed and pained about his actions. He looked remorseful. He said “I am very apologetic…”

He took to Twitter to say, ” I want to apologize to the Jewish Community…for the insensitive and ill-informed posts that I shared on my social media…I unintentionally hurt the Jewish community…and for that I am sorry! Now, more than ever, we must work together to end discrimination of all types and against all people and communities. This apology is more than just words–it is a promise to do better. I will fully educate myself and work with local and national organizations to be more informed and make a difference in our community…In a time of division, I am committed to doing my part in making this word a better place for our children.”

Forgiveness is a big thing in my worldview. And as a third generation Holocaust Survivor, I accepted his apology.

You, on the other hand, chose a different approach after taking down your hurtful Instagram post. You went on Instagram again, but instead of backing down, apologizing, or expressing any kind of statement resembling remorse or sorrow, doubled down. You wrote,

To Whom it May Concern:

Your races pain doesn’t hurt more than the next races pain. Don’t act like your hardships or (sic) more devastating than ours. And u wonder why we fighting for equality. Common sense ain’t common. Truth Hurts. Never wast time explaining to people who never supported u anyway. Free Game.

Like I said earlier, I am no mind reader. Truth by told, I have NO IDEA what you are talking about here or implying. But it kind of sounds like you are sending a message to the Jewish community, who you refuse to name by name. You make it sound like we have undermined the plight of the Black Community and compared it with our own sorrows that we have endured as a people. You seem to be implying that we never supported the Black People anyways.

Regardless of what you said, or what you meant, and the blatant falseness of it, it was the furthest thing from an apology imaginable.

It was incredibly offensive.

Then, in case anyone was unclear on your stance on Jews, on Instagram Live, you said, “You know who the Rothschilds are? They own all the banks. I haven’t said one thing that’s untrue yet.”

I am a forgiving man, but your sheer ignorance and disdain for my People, the Jewish community, makes it hard to take anything you have ever said seriously.

If you do eventually come to your senses and follow DeSean Jackson’s path, and you express remorse for your painful comments, please only do so after you learn some basic history and mean the words of remorse that come out your mouth.

And when you do that, I will forgive you too.

Sincerely,

Danny Wolfe