Two months after Builder and I got married, we took a trip to Cleveland to visit his extended family. While there, I got the shock of my life--the "n-word" crossing Jewish lips.
Now I'm not shocked. I'm just appalled.
I've become accustomed to the all-too-frequent use of the word "schvartza" (a Yiddish version of the n-word). However, my completely secular parents, the ones who supposedly had no values, never used racial slurs, and taught me never to use them. All the ones I'd heard of, I picked up from TV--but I hate them all.
The truth is, there is only ONE race. No group is superior to another. And those most likely to apply the N-Word are just as likely to drop the K-Word. We do ourselves no favors by trying to emulate them. They will always see us as "children of the Devil" or whatever slur they wish to use. We win ourselves no friends, and gain no respect. All we do is alienate those elements of the world who might sympathize with our plight.
Actually, shvartza just means black, in the literal sense, not the n-word, though it is often used in a derogatory manner, just as 'black' is sometimes used in a derogatory manner. As for the n-word, while I never used it, from 8th to 11th grade it was not uncommon to hear kids say it in yeshiva. It was not because they hated African Americans, they didn't know any. It was just out of ignorance and immaturity. Eventually, they all grew up and stopped using it. I have actually never heard it uttered by a frum adult yet in my 22 years on this earth, other than by an African American chassidish fellow at my yeshiva.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I've heard the N-Word--and worse--from adults. I've also heard other bigoted comments against other races, including the following gem: "Why should I care about [a guy who died after being hit by a girl who texted while driving]? He's only a Chinese!"
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ReplyDeletewow! really? that honestly worries me. I mean, sure, I've heard "at least it wasn't a jew" but WOW! That-that is just WRONG!!!!
Not to be picky but there are different races - Caucasian, Negroid, Oriental, for example. But difference does not imply superiority or inferiority, just difference.
ReplyDeleteAs I've said for a long time (forgive the language): assholes come in all shapes, colours, genders and sizes. Yes, we should be better than others when it comes to expressing hate but it's something we often fall short of.
With all the co-mingling of the so-called races, who can tell anymore? In truth, a "Caucasian" might have Native American blood, and an African-American may have white ancestry. So, what do you go off of? Or you could just chuck the whole kit and kaboodle and say that there is only ONE race, and all seven billion of us can trace our ancestry back to the same person. To say otherwise is to discount the very Torah we believe in.
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