Citing Groulx's assertion that anti-Semitism is "negative and ridiculous," some scholars have downplayed allegations of anti-Semitism against Groulx. In a speech given in 1999, the historian Xavier Gélinas argues that Groulx did not support "racial anti-Semitism," which "confronts Jews for being Jews." While acknowledging the problematic and anti-Semitic nature of Groulx's rhetoric, Gélinas claims that it represents "cultural anti-Semitism" that singles out Jews because of the "principles and customs that they are deemed, rightly or wrongly, to believe in and to practice" and are "opposed to the traditional nationalist vision of Quebec."