Is she racist?

[EthanSPK]

Well fork me sideways.

 

Jews are not a race...

[GunslingerRoland]

I thought Hebrew was a race, and Jewish was a word for someone who practices Judaism?

 

As for a Jewish comedian -I think the more common denomiator there, is being a New Yorker. I can say that their style of comedy has nothing to do with my Jewish friends here on the west coast.

 

That is kinda my point though. For most of the population when they think of a "jew" they think of Jerry or Larry or Sarah Silverman.

 

It's like the stereotypes of "black people" are all based off of black people in America, often in the south. Here in Canada most African people are literally directly from Africa and have very little in common with the stereotypes.

 

So, while I wouldn't make the statement myself, I can see how it probably has more to do with a specific sub culture, than with a race.

[RecentChange]

I thought Hebrew was a race, and Jewish was a word for someone who practices Judaism?

 

That is kinda my point though. For most of the population when they think of a "jew" they think of Jerry or Larry or Sarah Silverman.

 

It's like the stereotypes of "black people" are all based off of black people in America, often in the south. Here in Canada most African people are literally directly from Africa and have very little in common with the stereotypes.

 

So, while I wouldn't make the statement myself, I can see how it probably has more to do with a specific sub culture, than with a race.

 

Hebrew is a language. Not a race, not a religion, but the language of the Jewish people.

 

One of my best friends is Jewish, speaks a little Hebrew, and does not practice Judaism.

 

The holocaust wasn't really about religion - it was about an ethnic genocide. Persecution of a race of people.

 

As for "most of the population" thinking of Jerry Seinfeld when they think "Jewish" - maybe in your corner of the world. Me? When I think of Jerry, I think "New Yorker" - because he shares nothing with the Jewish people I know personally.

[Springsummer]

I tease my GF, she lives in Quebec city My husband is of French decent, so I give him a few digs. (he's American/Parisian french tho) and I know there is a BIG difference lol. *rolleyes*

 

Hi, may I ask, you when you use 'My GF' , is that means you are bisexual?

 

awhile ago, a very handsome French-Canadian on pof said 'My BF', I stopped reply to him. I assume he is gay.

 

I have nothing against bisexual. It is just not my thing. I am just confused with the usage. I have always use the term Female friend instead.

[grays]

OP, I'd be uncomfortable with what she said. Even just referring to someone as "a Jew" would make me cringe. I suppose part of that, for me, is that Jewish people have been so recently and horribly persecuted and that there are some outspoken anti-semites still. Calling someone "a Jew," feels different to me than calling someone "an American." And the context in which she did it feels wrong to me. I'm also bothered by referring to a person as "a black" or "a white." It just seems to say there's nothing else important about them. I'm not at all bothered by "a black person," or "a black man."

 

But context and shared history mean a lot. I dont think that all joking around should be off limits. The black man that I've been dating recently says that his white friends have complained that he's too white. And he's actually kind of conflicted about it because it's obvious that they mean he's not cool enough or edgy enough or maybe masculine enough. They are joking around and it's hurtful and racist, imo. (But I'd be willing to bet that those people genuinely care about him and would hate to think they've hurt him.) He and I have joked around about whether he or I (I'm white) are the blacker one. For him, I have no doubt that that joking is addressing a real issue for him. I tread softly because I don't want to make him feel like he's not just exactly what he should be, and that what he should be/is doesn't have to match my or anyone else's fantasy about what a black man is or should be.

 

And then there's the problem that all of us (Americans, at least) have been raised in this profoundly racist culture and it's nearly or actually impossible to tease those motives and thoughts and beliefs out of us completely.

[Gaeta]

Hi, may I ask, you when you use 'My GF' , is that means you are bisexual?

 

awhile ago, a very handsome French-Canadian on pof said 'My BF', I stopped reply to him. I assume he is gay.

 

I have nothing against bisexual. It is just not my thing. I am just confused with the usage. I have always use the term Female friend instead.

 

Smackie can correct me but I think she means her girl friend. Women often use *girlfriend* to speak about their women friend.

 

I am French-Canadian, if a man spoke to you and said his *bf* he could mean he's in a relationship with a man OR he could mean his guy friend and he just didn't speak English enough to understand it works with women but not with men.

 

Instead of running away you could have asked him what he meant. He would have answered honestly. I am 52, I started learning English at 20 and I still make mistakes.

[viatori patuit]

Milleanials.....

 

Relax. If I was her I would dump you for being petty and judgmental. This is so far removed from racism or discrimination that I am not even sure how one would get there.

 

I have known several truly racist people, and to a person they each expressed an overt disdain for certain groups fairly quickly. That is a lot different than having fun with stereotypes. Every group enjoys the stereotypes to a degree. As a white guy I get it all the time, particularly when I am out in the world.

[Gaeta]

 

Anyways so we are watching the movie and he does something funny and she laughs and says 'It takes a jew'.

 

More I read this more I think you are mistaken.

 

The Jewish character on tv did something *funny* and she laughed and made her comment. If the character on tv had commited a violent crime and she had made that comment THEN I would have perceived this as being racist and prejudiced. But something funny?

 

Because English isn't my first language I don't understand why using the word Jew is offending. Someone can explain? Isn't a noun Jew-Jews? I did not find any history behind why now it's offensive.

[grays]

It's offensive because it's like reducing a person to nothing more than their Jewishness. It bothers me more to hear "a black" or "the blacks," probably because in my lifetime in places I've lived, there have been lots of racist behavior and violence and injustice. It just feels to me like the only important characteristic is blackness and that blackness is all you need to know to understand what the speaker means -- there is no room for that black person to have attributes that might not line up with the speaker's view of what it means to be black.

 

I understand that I may be alone in this view and many people who've grown up in the same circumstances will disagree. But I will also say that I have many, many times heard white people use the term "a black," in a snearing scary way that nobody here would miss the import of if they had heard it.

[Gaeta]

Thank you Grays, I see this under a different light now.

[Gr8fuln2020]

I am not certain if she is a racist, but insensitive in the least. Being offended by such 'potential' racist language is a strength not a weakness or 'over' sensitivity. We live in a time where people are NOW much more personally responsible for what dastardly language they use. In the not so distant past, use of offensive language, however disparaging, untrue, dehumanizing, was regarded as the way it was. Not be challenged, not to be rebuffed....but now, the people who most ridicule political correctness and the sensitivities that much of our society has obtained over the decades are often the very ones who are threatened by the heighten responsibility that they are now held to.

 

Words hurt, matter...always have, always will. That is why people use them in both positive AND disparaging ways.

 

I have very liberal and very conservative friends and I have never heard any of them use language that dehumanizes...i have always suspected that they all possess something that is not universal...values that recognize that any use of language that undermines the dignity or value other another human being is simply not acceptable.

 

OP. Did she know your background? Religious, cultural? I would think that someone would be smart enough not to make such a comment in the fear of offending...unless she didn't care.

[Cookiesandough]

Generalizing groups is "-ist", so yeah, it's racist.

[Springsummer]

Smackie can correct me but I think she means her girl friend. Women often use *girlfriend* to speak about their women friend.

 

I am French-Canadian, if a man spoke to you and said his *bf* he could mean he's in a relationship with a man OR he could mean his guy friend and he just didn't speak English enough to understand it works with women but not with men.

 

Instead of running away you could have asked him what he meant. He would have answered honestly. I am 52, I started learning English at 20 and I still make mistakes.

 

Yes. I regret I didn't ask and instead just assume. It seems people are not convention nowadays so I just assume. I should just have given the person the benefit of a doubt. I just don't have much faith in people nowadays I guess.

 

Gosh, you seems use English flawlessly. I still have problems with the langues.

[coolheadal]

For what it's worth I enjoy my Chinese colleagues to be different than I. I think their little habits are cute and we learn from each other every day even after working together 15 years. Our differences is what make our friendship so rich.

 

Same with my bf who's of different race than I. I love his culture is different than mine, it brings different sounds, colors and flavors to our lives.

 

I would not want to wake up in a world where we would all be the same. It would be boring to me.

 

I realize it's a very Canadian speech :-) Over here we are proud of being a multi-cultural country.

 

Well I am part Chinese myself, I don't go around calling anyone rude comments or making jokes about other races. I know better. I also part Native South American Indian, Scottish on both parents, Cuban I hear too much comments about that too. Joke or not just no place for it today.

[GunslingerRoland]

As for "most of the population" thinking of Jerry Seinfeld when they think "Jewish" - maybe in your corner of the world. Me? When I think of Jerry, I think "New Yorker" - because he shares nothing with the Jewish people I know personally.

 

He shares nothing with the Jewish people I've met either (be they few) but he totally fits the "Jewish" media stereotype. Which is my point, your comment may have nothing to do with actual Jewish people, but more of the "media version" of Jewish people.

[guest569]

I think it depends on the intent, values and beliefs more than the words. And depends on how you received them.

[fred123]

My ex gf was jewish and im indian. She was a racist. I was the only non white person she has dated and the only boyfriend who wasnt allowed to have anything on social media that implied we were dating or together.

Conclusion: shes a racist.

 

My colour or race can only be the reason why i wasnt allowed to have a pic with her or go to any events with her. Shes also a racist cos a month after we broke up she says im not jewish and wants a jew. Thats racist

[introverted1]

Not proper to say.. Why make that comment that way just say wow look at those people what they're doing that for. This way we are all treated the same way not by race. But like I said we are not there yet.. Strange to think about we have new races and net generation of kids being born into a world where they're going to see a peaceful one but not today. New races and new type of people. It started and happening.. Everyone is the same we are all no different than each other.

 

But we are not all the same. Different cultures have different traditions and behaviors. That's what it means to be in a multi-cultural society -- that we are not all the same! We celebrate different holidays, eat different foods, observe different customs, and have differing views on marriage/family/gender roles/etc.

 

Not every acknowledgement of a difference is a slur.

[Gr8fuln2020]

 

Not every acknowledgement of a difference is a slur.

 

Agreed. It's context and intention.

 

Again, not sure if this girl is a racist. It would take a little more interaction to find out if she is.

 

I would like to make a very important note... the issue of racism in the USA is very different from other countries. The racism that existed and exists in the USA is profoundly rooted in a history that no other country has experienced. There's a reason why racism is more 'raw' in the USA.

[myothernic2]

I have a black coworker who thinks differently about that. A drunk friend of ours got too comfortable and started talking to him like a brother trying to fit in, saying the n word like they call each other. I know he didn't mean anything by it, nor making fun of him. My coworker and his wife got very up set and called him a racist....we all knew it wasn't racist, nor was out friend ever been a racist and I have known him for over 20 years. Nope, the coworker said that comes from somewhere bad, he is a racist and didn't see our point of view. There was no hate intended, just a drunk guy over stepping his boundaries because they just met that night.

 

I get upset how people distort what being racist is and I was really tempted to explain it to him, but I wasn't going to get into an argument with him about it. We just walked away.

 

 

To add this person hates transgender people and doesn't want his child exposed to that crap as he puts it. When Katelyn came out he just would shut up about it. It was offended some staff members who have transgender friends. So the pot calling the kettle black (pardon the pun).

 

Correction: What SOME black people refer to each other as... Thanks.

[Almond_Joy]

So I was on a date with a girl and we are watching the movie IT

 

For those who seen it there is a jewish character that is a bit neurotic and talks a lot (but funny).

 

Anyways so we are watching the movie and he does something funny and she laughs and says 'It takes a jew'. After about 15 seconds I reply 'what does that mean?' 'That it takes a jew to act that way. It's funny because only a jew could be that way'

 

Now is that racist? I think it is but then that's how the charactor in the movie is protrayed. Thoughts?

 

If she is Jewish or regularly interacts with a network of Jewish people I wouldn't see a problem with this. But perpetuating stereotypes about a race or culture you have no proximity to is racist.

 

I'm an American black woman, I don't care how long you've known me. If you're not black and your social network doesn't have a significant percentage of black people, stereotypes about black people should not come out of your mouth.

 

I live in Southern California and my friend circle is largely white. They all know not to do this.

[carhill]

I think it depends on the intent, values and beliefs more than the words. And depends on how you received them.

 

Yeah, as a legendary funny man who left us this year after over nine decades used to say, it's what is in one's heart and soul that matters. Sometimes that's hard to discern by casual observation. It takes time and getting to know.

 

In any event, this is what I grew up with:

 

 

And when all sorts of racial/national/religious names/comments, both funny and not, were commonplace. Nowadays, IDK. Different times.

[Hoosfoos]

Who cares, stereotypes are mostly true anyways.

[kittencupcake]

I’m Jewish and I find her comment ignorant but not necessarily anti-Semitic. I would have cringed at that but not been fully offended.

 

Also Judaism is a religion and it’s also a culture. Not a race though (and neither is Hebrew, for whomever said that).

[fred123]

I’m Jewish and I find her comment ignorant but not necessarily anti-Semitic. I would have cringed at that but not been fully offended.

 

Also Judaism is a religion and it’s also a culture. Not a race though (and neither is Hebrew, for whomever said that).

 

Im offended that jewish people use the race card as an excuse why they cant be with a people