I don't GET anti-semitic remarks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the poster who asked, Isn't it a good thing never to have heard anti-semitic remarks?

There's nothing nourishing about hearing such remarks. But it is better to be aware of, and realistic about, the world we live in. Anti-semitic remarks, while hardly the only form of bias still around, is still very much a part of that world.

In a sense, to say you've never heard such remarks is less a message that they no longer exist than that the speaker is living in a bubble. By acknowledging that anti-semitic remarks exist, we are acknowledging that we all have work to do to get to the point where they do not exist.

I disagree to an extent - if one never hears anti-semitic remarks, to me that means that we are getting to a point where they are at least very much less prevalent. It doesn't mean someone is living in a bubble, nor does it mean that they are unaware of the historic issues surrounding Jews. It is a sign of progress.

[Anonymous]

PP here. Sorry for the first paragraph topic change, I intended to start a new paragraph. Typing on a phone.

[Anonymous]

I have always heard backhanded comments made about Jewish folk from older people, like my grandmother. She used to talk about the Jews in South Florida who were so obnoxious. She was from NYC where it seems to me there was a lot more prejudice and stereotyping back in the day when many poor immigrants came to NYC first. I think most of the prejudiced terms you hear today that sound "old fashioned" stem from how poor immigrants were viewed when they first came to this country, whether Irish, Italian, German, Jewish, etc... The movie “Gangs of New York” shows a very early example of the “hows and whys” of this phenomenon; it is mostly economic.

My grandmother once used the term "spic" in a normal conversation and I was appalled. I told her it is a very bad word and terribly pejorative to which she replied "Why? It’s no different from Mick or Kraut." She was German, and my grandfather was mostly Irish and, in her mind these terms were used by everyone. To her, I guess, they did not have the purely negative connotations they have to day, if anyone ever even hears/knows what they mean. They were more terms that distinguished “who your people were.” Another way to look at this is that today we are much less tolerant of prejudice as the world has become much smaller and more well-connected in our generation. One more reason to applaud the Internet.

Granted, some stereotypes and pejorative terms have lasted much longer than others. Whereas many Jewish ones persist, no one seems to make nasty comments about the Irish anymore (really, when is the last time you heard the word "Mick" used in a nasty way?). Having grown up in a city with a tight knit Jewish enclave, and having many friends who were part of it, I do think that some Jewish positions on certain issues make gentiles feel unwanted or disliked merely for not being Jewish. [Note, I am not saying it is okay or placing any blame, just trying to understand why these stereotypes have persisted when other have faded.] For instance, many Jews do not believe their children should date, and certainly never marry, a non-Jew. While this is based on the belief that Judaism only descends from the mother, it certainly doesn’t help encourage feelings that "we are all more alike than different" and can lead to a self-styled exclusion from non-Jews, espcially in high school when most people start to date. Also, lots of the Jewish boys I knew growing up frequently used the term “Our Tribe” to exclude anyone who wasn’t Jewish.

To me one of the more interesting issues is the fact that many people automatically label a person who criticizes any aspect of Israel’s political policies as anti-Semitic. This is true whether you are a gentile or a Jew and whether the criticism is political or cultural. I have read that more and more the well-educated young people within the Jewish community (here in the US) are fighting this position. They want to be able to have an intellectual or political discussion about Israel as they would any other country but it is hard. The viewpoint that any criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic may hurt a Jewish person more than a Gentile, as they are viewed as betraying their heritage, not a position anyone wants to be in.

[Anonymous]

I don't GET anti-semitic remarks (made by celebrities or whoever) in the sense that I don't understand why the prejudices are still out there. Personally, I can't tell any difference between Jewish people and others (whether they're celebrities or my friends) so, old people and history aside, why are some people still making these types of remarks? Is it just the legacy of grandparents/great-grandparents passing down prejudices?

[Anonymous]

First time I was exposed was in high school--a comment made by my black principal. I really didn't know what to think. Then in college my roomate wanted to see my horns and wanted to know if I really drank christian baby's blood. Then at a job one ignorant person asked if I was Jewish and why and went on (but I tuned her out).

So, yes, I live in MOCO and I have been exposed to it before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't GET anti-semitic remarks (made by celebrities or whoever) in the sense that I don't understand why the prejudices are still out there. Personally, I can't tell any difference between Jewish people and others (whether they're celebrities or my friends) so, old people and history aside, why are some people still making these types of remarks? Is it just the legacy of grandparents/great-grandparents passing down prejudices?

I think there's a reason for it in Hollywood. If you fail there, it would be very easy to note that the job you wanted was given to a Jewish person, by another Jewish person. That's not to define anyone's motivations-- just to say that there are so many Jewish people in the entertainment industry that it's probably unavoidable in some situations. And someone bitter could easily see that as unfair preferential treatment. Don't know if this goes on in banking and whatnot, but I've heard from friends in entertainment that non-Jews frequently feel left out in the cold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't GET anti-semitic remarks (made by celebrities or whoever) in the sense that I don't understand why the prejudices are still out there. Personally, I can't tell any difference between Jewish people and others (whether they're celebrities or my friends) so, old people and history aside, why are some people still making these types of remarks? Is it just the legacy of grandparents/great-grandparents passing down prejudices?

I think there's a reason for it in Hollywood. If you fail there, it would be very easy to note that the job you wanted was given to a Jewish person, by another Jewish person. That's not to define anyone's motivations-- just to say that there are so many Jewish people in the entertainment industry that it's probably unavoidable in some situations. And someone bitter could easily see that as unfair preferential treatment. Don't know if this goes on in banking and whatnot, but I've heard from friends in entertainment that non-Jews frequently feel left out in the cold.

This is interesting to me because I grew up in that area. Although my immediate family is not involved in the entertainment industry, some extended family members are and many of my friends' parents were. At this point, the community of Jews in the business lives a very secular lifestyle and is heavily intermarried. I do think there's a common understanding that acknowledges Jewish cultural roots, but I'm surprised to hear that it is described as exclusive for professional purposes because these people don't even exclude non-Jews from their own families.

[Anonymous]

I can honestly say I was at least 20 before I heard my first anti-jew remark, and then it was in a joke - and I remember I didn't get it - because I had never heard the stereotypes. It was years and years later before I heard real anti-semetic remarks.

Why? Most likely because my parents were not biased, and didn't pass on any bias to me. Or maybe because I grew up in an area where there were not a lot of Jews, so maybe no one said anything about them. I was also pretty ignorant of the religion, so its possible a lot of anti-semetic comments just went over my head.

As far as news, I tend to stick with unbiased news and stay away from opinion columns and definetly stay away from any news program that is one person just spouting off. Although, unbiased news is hard to find these days

And this is the first time, I ever heard the phrase "Jew me down."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't GET anti-semitic remarks (made by celebrities or whoever) in the sense that I don't understand why the prejudices are still out there. Personally, I can't tell any difference between Jewish people and others (whether they're celebrities or my friends) so, old people and history aside, why are some people still making these types of remarks? Is it just the legacy of grandparents/great-grandparents passing down prejudices?

I think there's a reason for it in Hollywood. If you fail there, it would be very easy to note that the job you wanted was given to a Jewish person, by another Jewish person. That's not to define anyone's motivations-- just to say that there are so many Jewish people in the entertainment industry that it's probably unavoidable in some situations. And someone bitter could easily see that as unfair preferential treatment. Don't know if this goes on in banking and whatnot, but I've heard from friends in entertainment that non-Jews frequently feel left out in the cold.

This is interesting to me because I grew up in that area. Although my immediate family is not involved in the entertainment industry, some extended family members are and many of my friends' parents were. At this point, the community of Jews in the business lives a very secular lifestyle and is heavily intermarried. I do think there's a common understanding that acknowledges Jewish cultural roots, but I'm surprised to hear that it is described as exclusive for professional purposes because these people don't even exclude non-Jews from their own families.

Like I said-- I don't mean to try to define anyone's motivations. Meaning, who KNOWS why the Jewish person got the job from the other Jewish person. I suspect it's just numbers (lots of Jews around). But if you're bitter and looking to lay blame for your failure, the Jews "controlling" your industry are an easy target. I never said there was any truth to it, and in fact, I think it's a facile and usually-false explanation. But I am a tad surprised we don't hear more drug-addled anti-Jewish rants a la Mel Gibson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you believe that speech like this is detrimental to Jewish people in any material way? Do you think that Dior-followers will now go out and gas your mother, because of speech like this? It's shocking, yes. And hurtful. But what is the real-world effect? Sincere question.

I'm not Jewish but I do believe speech like that is detrimental. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior and I don't blame Jewish people for being sensitive to anti-semitism given the long, tragic history of unprovoked violence against them. We should all be intolerant of that behavior.

BTW - I grew up in a rural area, didn't (knowingly) meet a Jewish person until I was in college and don't recall ever hearing negative remarks about Jews until well after college. Of course, I was aware of anti-Semitism but had no first hand experience with it.

[Anonymous]

I think a lot of these "anti-semitic" comments are a bit overblown. Just like a black person who always yells racism these two groups are always looking for discrimination under ever stone. Personally I don't care what they think you can make comments without necessarily being racist or anti-Semitic. And if Israel wants to be so sensitive they should stop taking our billions of taxpayer dollars. We've wasted hundreds of billions of dollars on them with military aid so they can turn around and sell it to the Chinese, Russians and Iranians. Talk about living up to stereotypes.

[Anonymous]

I came from an Asian country and antisemitism is new to me. Can somebody explain to me the historical/cultural background of this? Is it because Jesus was killed by a Jew? Or because they have a somewhat "unique" culture (marriage system, Kosher, etc.)? How did it start? And why Jews but not other race/ethnicity (other than blacks)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of these "anti-semitic" comments are a bit overblown. Just like a black person who always yells racism these two groups are always looking for discrimination under ever stone. Personally I don't care what they think you can make comments without necessarily being racist or anti-Semitic. And if Israel wants to be so sensitive they should stop taking our billions of taxpayer dollars. We've wasted hundreds of billions of dollars on them with military aid so they can turn around and sell it to the Chinese, Russians and Iranians. Talk about living up to stereotypes.

What?!? You have got to be either incredibly ignorant or just plain gullible. Israel would NEVER sell anything to Iran. And, as for China and Russia, I doubt it but show me the proof.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of these "anti-semitic" comments are a bit overblown. Just like a black person who always yells racism these two groups are always looking for discrimination under ever stone. Personally I don't care what they think you can make comments without necessarily being racist or anti-Semitic. And if Israel wants to be so sensitive they should stop taking our billions of taxpayer dollars. We've wasted hundreds of billions of dollars on them with military aid so they can turn around and sell it to the Chinese, Russians and Iranians. Talk about living up to stereotypes.

What?!? You have got to be either incredibly ignorant or just plain gullible. Israel would NEVER sell anything to Iran. And, as for China and Russia, I doubt it but show me the proof.

This would be an example of anti-Semitic criticism of Israel.

I would say that comments referencing approval of Hitler and gassing are pretty unambiguously racist. The Mel Gibson stuff, too. Sheen's thing just implied that we should all find some significance in his boss's ethnicity-- which is a weird thing for anyone to bring up unless he thinks it is some sort of valid ammunition. That's a racist assumption.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of these "anti-semitic" comments are a bit overblown. Just like a black person who always yells racism these two groups are always looking for discrimination under ever stone. Personally I don't care what they think you can make comments without necessarily being racist or anti-Semitic. And if Israel wants to be so sensitive they should stop taking our billions of taxpayer dollars. We've wasted hundreds of billions of dollars on them with military aid so they can turn around and sell it to the Chinese, Russians and Iranians. Talk about living up to stereotypes.

Thanks for your example of racism.