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This hyphenated life, post two / Jew me down
By Marco Greenberg
Tags: anti-Semitism, American Jewry 
What do you do when a neighbor slips in a casual anti-Semitic reference into a conversation? Is a wave of anti-Semitism about to rise? Relax. The truth is, there isn't much overt Jew hatred in the U.S.

It started innocently enough.

Just a conversation with a neighbor outside our front door in the countryside of Western, Mass. More sophisticated than strictly rural, a mix of mountains and small towns, this part of the world is populated by a curious mix of old hippies, yuppies, farmers and second-home owners - and is also home to two synagogues.
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The gossip soon began to roll, New England style. Like that famous Norman Rockwell painting where one friend whispers in the ear of another and suddenly it snow balls into a chain of unstoppable rumor.

"He always tries to 'Jew people down' said our non-Jewish neighbor, referring to another local (Jewish) resident.

Our mouths dropped open and suddenly seconds seemed like minutes.
"You do know we're Jewish?" we asked.

The neighbor paused in awkward embarrassment. "Just a figure of speech, you know what I mean," she said.

Not really we said. I started to take on the role of Ambassador of the Jewish People and described why the term was offensive. Before it escalated any further, we all backed down and the conversation took a safer turn.

How should an American Jew relate to this story? What is the real story about anti-Semitism in the U.S.?

Before calling the ADL, or sounding the alarm that we're about to encounter a new wave of anti-Semitism and racism as the economy worsens - not forgetting the legitimate fear there is about how some bigots might react to the prospect of the first African American president - let's put things in perspective.

America has long been, and I believe will continue to be, the exception among nations, a place where Jews are embraced, can freely practice their faith and have been recognized for their many contributions. Hence, in my Haaretz.com blog, This Hyphenated Life, I'm especially proud of my Jewish-American identity.

My wife and I being raised in bicoastal America, NYC and LA, could count on one hand any even remotely anti-Semitic incident. Ok, there were swastikas painted on the goal posts of my high school football field by our rival, and then at UC Berkeley I had a dorm mate who questioned whether 6 million really died, but otherwise we were and are shielded from direct exposure to anti-Semitism.

The truth is I think the overt kind of anti-Semitism is quite rare across the board in the U.S. There are a few factors that come into play to create this situation. Partly it is the more tolerant and multicultural times we live in; partly the largely urban geography of Jewish life - the historic and sizeable presence of Jewish communities in so many of the major U.S. cities; and partly because, frankly, in the age of Larry David, Adam Sandler and even Amy Winehouse, it's cool to be a Jew.

It was a very different reality for the Russians in my IDF unit who were beaten up in the Red Army for no reason other than being born a Jew, or the Iranians and Ethiopians who walked hundreds of miles from oppression to freedom. Furthermore, if you're looking for truly dangerous anti-Semites simply go look on the Web, and type in the search term 'Jew' or explore what the radical Islamic world is saying.

In America, the worse it usually gets is occasional and subtle 'code'. In the case of this small town in Western Massachusetts, when people speak of 'New Yorkers', the meaning is usually clear: Jews. In other areas, it might be adjectives like 'aggressive' or 'loud'. Is the implicit code for other minorities, e.g. African Americans as 'urban', or Hispanic Americans as 'immigrants', any less offensive?

In honor of the irreverent and brilliant comedian, George Carlin, (who was heavily influenced by the pioneering Jewish comedian Lenny Bruce), whose most infamous comedy skits was based on the seven dirty words you were not - at the time- allowed to say on television, l will dare to utter our own 'seven dirty words' in one loud scream: "Christ Killer, Heeb, Yid, JAP, Jew Boy, Jew Bastard and, finally, Jew Me Down!"

Is all the offensive language I have just listed beyond the pale or is it actually acceptable? Should we emulate the NAACP which, a few years ago, conducted a mock burial service of the notorious "N" word, in order to encourage some African Americans to stop calling themselves a term that caused so much hurt? Or can Jews 'take back' terms offensive to Jews and reincarnate them as badges of pride?

Or should we take David Mamet's dire warnings of American Jewry's self-hatred in his must-read, The Wicked Son, and consider the consequences of adopting foreign or hostile stereotypes as our own, most prominently, the idea of Jewish guilt?

When we say, 'typical Israeli', are we not really saying 'typical Jew'?
Is it a sign of self-confidence and self-irony that my old Jewish fraternity, Zeta Beta Tau, is popularly known as "Zillions, Billions and Trillions"?

Is not Heeb Magazine, a highly creative and out there publication that I happen to think is pretty damn cool, a perfect illustration of transforming the derogatory into the positive?

It's complicated stuff and it goes to the heart of the degree of confidence we have in our identity and security as Americans with a hyphenated identity. What's important is to distinguish between insidious but unconscious anti-Semitic expressions that make their way, sometimes surprisingly or unwittingly, into day-to-day speech, as I found in Massachusetts, and anti-Semitism with an agenda and a conscious power to discriminate and create hatred.

For some international perspective on the issue of whether apparently anti-Semitic expressions can be 'redeemed', I'll end with an anecdote from a visit to China. The tour guide asked me if I was Jewish. Yes, I confirmed. "Shanghai Jew," he immediately replied.

"You mean the Jews who lived in Shanghai during World War II?" I asked.
No, he smiled, it means "clever in business."

My cousin who lives in Beijing later confirmed the ubiquity of that term and also indicated to me that the expression's meaning, in terms of the attitude it expresses towards Jews, is both sweet and sour.

Also by Marco Greenberg on Haaretz.com:
This Hyphenated Life, Post One / A Hybrid Jew.
Battle of the attitude / Israeli girls vs. American Jews.
Advice to Ehud Olmert, blogger.

Marco Greenberg, is a communications strategist and co-founder of the new media consultancy Thunder11.

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  1.   The Dutch, the Gypsies and the French 15:29  |  hanoi 17/07/08
  2.   Speak for Yourself, Not for Others 15:32  |  Michelle 17/07/08
  3.   Ivory Tower 16:35  |  Deborah 17/07/08
  4.   thoughts 16:48  |  potobac 17/07/08
  5.   antisemitism in America 17:02  |  curious george 17/07/08
  6.   Served in the IDF? 17:06  |  Ben 17/07/08
  7.   Jew Down 18:04  |  Leon N. Zoghlin 17/07/08
  8.   To Michelle and others 18:34  |  Naftush 17/07/08
  9.   Heeb nonsense 18:36  |  Josh B 17/07/08
  10.   may be rare, but it does exist 18:37  |  gershon 17/07/08
  11.   Just you wait and see-Christianity=Aushwitz 19:53  |  Shachar 17/07/08
  12.   Christians find Jews Guiltly 19:56  |  OysherZelig 17/07/08
  13.   not every place is the same 20:14  |  Chav 17/07/08
  14.   Overt Anti-semitism 20:44  |  Jon 17/07/08
  15.   Marco 22:27  |  Czarkazem13 17/07/08
  16.   Am I the only one 22:33  |  Dave Duncan 17/07/08
  17.   Anti-Semitism 22:40  |  Frank P. 17/07/08
  18.   Michelle is right 23:30  |  Yosef 17/07/08
  19.   A little Anti-Semitism is Good 00:09  |  Brian 18/07/08
  20.   Anti-Semitism is alive and well in America 00:30  |  Arab in Exile 18/07/08
  21.   It`s happened to non Jews too..so get over it! 00:34  |  Edithann 18/07/08
  22.   You must not be frmo around here 02:22  |  Sam 18/07/08
  23.   "Arab in Exile" should return to his Arabian homeland 04:47  |  Raymond in DC 18/07/08
  24.   potobec 05:24  |  Danite 18/07/08
  25.   Yo Ho Jew the Man Down 05:44  |  Richard 18/07/08
  26.   Almost correct 06:57  |  Gordon 18/07/08
  27.   Antisemitism in America like everywhere else 06:59  |  J. 18/07/08
  28.   Dreamer; wish fulfillment never works 08:12  |  Dave 18/07/08
  29.   Do not ignore anti-Semitism. 08:23  |  Jean Van Daem 18/07/08
  30.   What is a Jew ? 08:31  |  A confused Arab 18/07/08
  31.   Too small an article on a very big subject 09:09  |  Shalom Freedman 18/07/08
  32.   Just reading some of the responses here: it is frightening 09:13  |  AA 18/07/08
  33.   Actually, most Western anti-Semites are strongly pro-Israel 09:46  |  peacelover 18/07/08
  34.   If you say so, Marco Greenberg 10:26  |  Clickfool 18/07/08
  35.   Jew you Down 10:34  |  Steve 18/07/08
  36.   to be generalized 10:50  |  Han 18/07/08
  37.   Shachar / Zelig - `Christian Bible` written by Jews! 10:54  |  Paul Henzen 18/07/08
  38.   QUESTION and you are Anti-Semitic! 10:57  |  PADDY 18/07/08
  39.   "Jew `em down" 11:10  |  Alohabob 18/07/08
  40.   wait till the us has a pres named hussein 11:30  |  sad amer 18/07/08
  41.   Overt antisemitism is rare in America but frequent on those blogs 11:49  |  S 18/07/08
  42.   jew me down 11:59  |  yona schear 18/07/08
  43.   Here`s why there is prejudice. 12:00  |  Michael 18/07/08
  44.   To 30# Wrong, most Westerners are pro semites and anti Israel 12:07  |  Raf 18/07/08
  45.   Is questioning if someone has their first loyalty 12:18  |  Chris Linthwaite 18/07/08
  46.   In America there will never be anti-semitism in high circles 12:19  |  mehmet 18/07/08
  47.   In America there will never be anti-semitism in high circles 12:19  |  mehmet 18/07/08
  48.   # 34 Paul Henzen Quran: Kill the Jews??? 12:23  |  Traude 18/07/08
  49.   Just Pay Attention 12:24  |  Dan 18/07/08
  50.   #45 - Mehmet - Wrong on almost all counts 12:53  |  Slibovitz 18/07/08
  51.   Who need non-Jewish anti-Semitism?! 13:13  |  Zev Davis 18/07/08
  52.   Not so, "S" # 40 13:21  |  Clickfool 18/07/08
  53.   Taxpayer, the higher you go, the fewer the Jews 13:26  |  Zev Davis 18/07/08
  54.   What State are We In? 13:32  |  Ronnie Wolman 18/07/08
  55.   #29 What is a Jew - interesting point 13:42  |  Vernon Marriott 18/07/08
  56.   anti -semitic remark 13:58  |  Larry 18/07/08
  57.   Is JAP a bad word? 13:58  |  Aphemia 18/07/08
  58.   #20 Arab in exile....maybe you should move 14:14  |  Lynn 18/07/08
  59.   Too bad America didn`t carve out the state of israel in its vast 14:17  |  lakshmi 18/07/08
  60.   Most US antisemites post on Haaretz 14:24  |  Realist 18/07/08
  61.   "Jew me down" 14:28  |  Hildar2@aol.com 18/07/08
  62.   Mehmet: who cares about the Palestinians ? 14:46  |  Ronnie Wolman 18/07/08
  63.   #46 mehmet....how many Americans do you personally know? 14:50  |  Lynn 18/07/08
  64.   #60 lakshmi....too bad Arabs had to cause so many wars 14:57  |  Lynn 18/07/08
  65.   The Islam propaganda machine is alive and well on college campus. 15:04  |  The Equalizer 18/07/08
  66.   being anti-latino is ok, being critical of israel is not 15:26  |  mehmet 18/07/08
  67.   aa 32