No More Stereotypes

0604blog

What is a stereotype and why do we need it? The dictionary defines it as “a relief printing plate cast in a mold made from composed type or an original plate.”

So what is the big deal? I hear a lot about stereotypes in the current discourse and I can’t fathom why people would be so concerned with “a relief printing plate cast in a mold made from composed type or an original plate.”

Wait. Wrong definition. More relevant is the Merriam-Webster definition of stereotype as “a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude or uncritical judgment.”

In other words, a stereotype is the lazy person’s shortcut to thinking and a quick and easy way to insult or otherwise inflict pain and to take power. People have to drop the stereotypes and realize that all should be treated as individuals and that they cannot be neatly labeled and discarded. That may not be easy but it is the only way forward.

As a Jew, I know a thing or two about stereotypes and persecution.

Yes, life would be so easy if I only was one of the chosen people. But alas, chosen I am not.

Here are other things I am not:

I have neither a tail nor horns and I have never been nor have I wanted to be a devil. Maybe a little devilish, but that’s nothing to do with my Jewishness.

I am not rich. I do not have a hooked nose. I do not have curly hair. I am an athlete. I have muscles. I am not exceptionally smart. I do not covet. I am not lazy. I am no more or less stubborn than the next guy. I am not part of a conspiracy to take over the world. I bathe regularly. I don’t smell except after a good workout or after I mow the front and back yards.

I have never poisoned a Christian’s well. I am married to a non-Jew but not because I want to intermarry with pure Christians and pollute their lineage. And I have never stolen a consecrated host and stuck pins in it so as to re-Crucify Jesus. I never slaughtered a Christian child to drain his blood for matzah and red wine. I have never loaned money out and demanded a huge amount of interest.

I am no more pushy, clannish, ruthless, dishonest, overbearing and money-loving than the next guy, Jewish or not. And though I may sometimes be ambitious, hardworking , intelligent or industrious, it has zip to do with being a Jew. And I am not more loyal to Israel than to the U.S. I don’t feel loyal to either.

Most of the anti-Semitism I experienced was the sneaky, behind the back kind, not the in your face kind.

When I was a kid, I had two “friends,” Howie and Greg, who were neighbors up the street. Both were Christians and I was from one of two Jewish families on the block.

I would often call on my friends to play. If it was raining, Greg’s mother would come to the door and tell me that Greg would be out in a minute and then close the door, leaving me waiting and getting wetter. I always thought she was anti-Semitic but maybe she was just a dick. The same thing would happen with Howie, who died shortly after graduating high school. Greg later joined the Navy.

I’ve never been called a Jewish slur to my face but I have heard many of the hurtful words, with Kike at the top of the list. I would hear people talk about “Jewing down” the price of a car by people who didn’t know I was Jewish.

Other choice words ment to infur that I am not very nice: Abbie, Abe and Abie; Heeb; Hymie; Jewboy; Mocky (First used in the 1930s, possibly from the Yiddish word makeh meaning “plague”); the ever popular Australian slur, Red Sea pedestrian, derived from the story of Moses leading the Jewish people out of Egypt; Shylock; and let’s not forget Yid.

People like me have been expelled, gassed, burned, beaten and otherwise attacked because of our religious heritage. And African Americans have been forceably removed, chained, hung, beaten, burned and otherwise harmed because of the color of their skin.

So I understand the pain inflicted by stereotypes and I know how slurs can be so hurtful. Jews have no corner on the slur market.

I know that African American are not by definition lazy, submissive, backward, lewd, treacherous or dishonest.

For African Americans, the equivalent of kike will always be the lowest form of insult, nigger. But there are many other variations through the years, like Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, Bucks, spades, spooks and eggplant, more often heard by its Italian translation, “Mulignan.”

There’s “Bluegum,” used by some white Southerners for an African American perceived as being lazy and who refuses to work. And who can ever forget Boogie, Buck, Burrhead, Tar Baby and Fuzzies.

You’ve got your Golliwogg, after a character in Florence Kate Upton’s children’s book; and Jigaboo, jiggabo, jijjiboo, zigabo, jig, jigg, jiggy, jigga and the timeless Jungle Bunny and monkey.

If you’re from South Africa, you’re called a Kaffir; Pickaninny, the racist English reference to black children; Porch monkey; Sambo; and Smoked Irishman, a 19th century term for black people.

And there’s the mammy, overweight, self-sacrificing and with undying loyalty. You saw in her “Gone with the Wind” and as the Aunt Jemima pancake mix. And watermelons are not the universal fruit of African Americans.

African American women are not loud, emasculating and domineering like the Sapphire character on Amos and Andy. And African American men are not sexually overly powerful like Mandingo.

People and not stereotypes populate the 195 nations on the planet. Ceetainly, there are slurs everywhere from Cabo Verde and Eswatini to Dkibouti and Comoros and everywhere in between. We all could take a lesson and drop the stereotypes and labels if we want to find a way out of the morass of understanding that seems everywhere.

For those curious, here are the 195 countries of the world:.
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Austria, Azerbaijan, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize,
Benin (Dahomey), Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei,
Brunswick and Lüneburg, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso (Upper Volta), Burma, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, The
Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China,
Colombia, Comoros, Congo Free State, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia, Czechoslovakia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea,Estonia, Eswatini, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece,
Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel,
Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, South Korea, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya
Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco. Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of the Congo, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, The Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia,and Zimbabwe.