Confronting Bigotry In All Its Forms: When Is the Word "Jew" An Offensive Stereotype?

[Behind the Aegis]

An elected official in a small Florida town last week used the word "jew" as a verb to mean cheap or stingy. This set off a minor controversy which I'll report below. This hardly rises to the level of outrage triggered (pun intended) by the acquittal of George Zimmerman in another Florida town, 330 miles away, but it does raise the broader question of how our society deals with persistent and ugly stereotypes. And under what circumstances those stereotypes can explode into discrimination and even violence and murder.

Last week, the Apalachicola Times, a small weekly, published a story about the Franklin County Board of Commissioners meeting. It appeared to be a routine meeting, dealing with the mundane civic housekeeping activities of a rural government. Much of the story involved the commissioners' decision to hire a new superintendent of roads and a dispute among the commissioners over what salary to pay the person who was chosen for the position, a man who had worked for the county for 26 years.

During that discussion, Cheryl Sanders, the elected chairwoman of board, said that they were "not to be up here jewing over somebody's pay." (You can see Sanders' comment on this video of the meeting at 14:36 of Part 6 of the videotape).

The local newspaper simply reported her statement without comment. It printed the word "jewing" as a verb, in the lower case.

Then a respected media watchdog blogger, Jim Romenesko, picked up the story and wrote that Sanders, who apparently had received some criticisms of her use of the word "jew" in that context, had apologized for using the comment. She told Romenesko that she had apologized to people who were offended by her remark via email. But she refused to show Romenesko a copy of the email.

more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/confronting-bigotry-in-al_b_3606821.html

[Skittles]

1. an aquaintance of mine said "jewed me down" in casual conversation

when I said WTF he seemed to have trouble coming up with another way of describing what had happened

[Behind the Aegis]

2. What I have always find facinating about the word....

...was it could mean "got a good deal" or "got charged too much." Personally, I think it says just how much people hate Jews to have a common slur actually mean two completely opposite things. I had never heard the expression, other than in movies or presentations, until I moved to Oklahoma and an employee of mine told me the place to go to get a car because I could easily "Jew them down" but I had to be careful because they could always "Jew me."

[Skittles]

5. now you are gonna get me Googling

the way this guy used it, they were simply haggling over a price, which is a fairly common activity (he deals in antiques as a hobby). I'm curious how that expression came about. Certainly it is a slur though!

[Behind the Aegis]

8. Unless I read wrong, it was actually a woman who used it, in this case.

I am not exactly sure where the slur came from, but I believe it has it's origins in Middle Germany when Jews were allowed to usury laws and good "G-d fearing folk" were not.

[Igel]

9. Mostly heard it in the NE.

Haven't heard it from anybody since leaving the Maryland, New Jersey area except in the media or from people who lived there or whose parents lived there. This is the phrase "to jew sb down."

The stereotype is that Jews are miserly. (Perhaps not "cheap," since even wealthy, opulent Jews would always want a really good bargain.) Anglo-Saxon/British culture doesn't do haggling or bargaining, except for things like used cars and perhaps houses. Expensive things that aren't viewed necessarily as luxuries. Even then most of us suck at it. It's one reason Americans are often viewed as easy marks in markets in countries where bargaining is a culturally accepted practice.

Since Jews disproportionately bargained for good deals and got them, we got the verb.

"To jew somebody" is a new one for me. Perhaps a merger of "screw" and "jew down"? That kind of merger happens. Perhaps generalizing from being the losing side of a "jewing down"? Dunno. My guess is that it's somebody not from the NE who heard a lot of Northeasterners use it and got it a bit off. Just speculation.

It's sort of an oblique slur. Wasn't a slur when I was a kid. Then a slur was what you called somebody, and things like "street arab" or "Goth" wouldn't have been deemed slurs. Heck, Jews I was friends with in college used the term, sometimes with a bit of off-handed pride.

Baltimore used to have "street arabs." Only an ethnic slur if you want to perceive it to be one. You have to know what's meant, not what's perceived. Just like "unisex 'hon'" is mostly dead. At one point it would have been possible for a man to use the word with both women and men who were complete strangers without anybody batting an eye or taking offense. Less formal than "sir," and just friendly, instead. But it fills the addressee gap left in "Here you are, sir" once "sir" is left out. I live in fear these days that it'll slip out by accident and somebody will take offense in ignorance.

[WCGreen]

3. My folks and their friends used the term "jewed them down" and when I called them on it...

My dad said it was a compliment because they were so good as negotiating.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. That same "sentiment" is also in the article.

I find it repulsive. It is one thing to use it within the tribe, but outside of it...no.

[WCGreen]

6. I grew up with all the Pollock jokes and my father was 100% Polish...

My dad use to say Nigger rich when ever he came into unexpected money.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. In all the years I worked as a diversity presenter, I have never heard that term.

It is interesting how various minorities are often some of the most prejudiced about other minorities.

[undeterred]

10. I've heard it and its absolutely not a compliment.

It implies being taken advantage of.