Unlike Google, Jews don't necessarily find the word "Jew" to be a derogatory one, as shown by its prevalence in the titles of blogs.She even cites a number of blogs with the word 'Jew' in them to prove her point.
Last year in What's in a Name, I quoted John Derbyshire, who wrote:
The word "Jew" is now very nearly taboo, except in very restricted contexts. You have to say "Jewish person," or some such formula -- though I suppose in ten years or so that will slip into taboo statusI also quote Jonah Goldberg, who wrote back in August 2000:
But in another sense, hearing "Jew" is a bit jarring...Still Hitler was largely successful in smearing the word "Jew." The word was so beaten up that after the Holocaust most American Jews took to saying, "I'm Jewish," rather than say, "I am a Jew."Have things changed since then?
Maybe there is just a difference between a Jew using that term to describe himself as opposed to a non-Jew trying to, just a there are words African Americans can use when addressing each other that others can't.
Technorati Tag: Jews.
2 comments:
You may very well be correct, my non-Jewish friends always refer to me as "Jewish" instead of as a "Jew." I had never noticed it until recently when I searched for "Jew" on Google and got their explanatory message.
However, I think that Jews of my generation (the vaunted 21-40) are less likely to be aware of the dichotomy, and just as Jonah Goldberg finds "Jew" jarring, so do we find the semantic difference.
It is not, however, the same as calling ourselves "kikes," and I don't think the analogy to African-Americans then holds water. The word Jew is not held to be universally offensive, hence my interest in its use by Jews.
True, the comparison to African-Americans is imprecise.
Then again, they are African-Americans and not 'Blacks' and let's not forget what the CP in NAACP stands for.
Also, most ethnic designations are as an adjective--not as a noun.
He is British vs He is a Britain
He is French vs He is a Frenchman
He is Chinese vs He is a Chinaman
Also in terms of religion, it can be either:
He is Christian; he is a Christian
He is Moslem; he is a Moslem
He is Jewish; he is a Jew
Just thinking as I'm writing, as an adjective it is description; as a noun there may be an implication of saying more, that that is the whole person.
A thought in progress...
Post a Comment