Must not say "black" in Yiddish
"Schwarz" is the ordinary German word for "black" and Yiddish is a German dialect with a few Hebrew words thrown in. The English derivative of the word is "swarthy"
"Comedian Jackie Mason used what some say is a racial epithet in describing President Barack Obama during his act Thursday night, infuriating at least several people in the crowd.
During a performance at Feinstein's at Loews Regency in NYC, Mason referred to Obama as a "schwartza" -- some say it's equivalent to the "N" word -- others say it's just part of the Yiddish culture and a literal translation of the word "Black."
We're told one person walked out fuming, "He's more offensive to the Jews than Madoff tonight."
We spoke with Mason by phone a few minutes ago, and he was outraged at the criticism, saying, "I'm not going to defend myself. Chris Rock has told a lot more jokes about whites than I have against Blacks. What about the demeaning words Blacks say about Jews?"
Source
7 comments:
One of the reasons Jackie Mason has remained a top-rated entertainer for decades, (aside from the fact that he's still one of the funniest men alive) is because he's real and doesn't take bullshit from anyone, especially PC-motivated bullshit!
Something else you may not have been aware of. Jackie is not overly loved by the majority of "progressive" jews, since they feel he makes their weaknesses too public, and he is on the Right, something they hate. Now you know the rest of the story.
What must “blacks” being saying about the Mel Brooks movie, “Spaceballs”?
All through the movie, are references to the “Schwartz”. Anywhere from ‘May the Schwartz be with you’ to “I see that my Schwartz’ is bigger than yours.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Mobius
As an Ashkenazi Jew who flavors my English with Yiddish, I have used that phrase a number of times in my life, never thought of it as deragatory.
I don't see anything wrong with what he did - comedians need some latitutde to mock political figures.
But I don't like the justification. It sounded like 'they called us names first'.
This tends to fall into the trap of validating the criticism in the first place.
Anonymous said...
"As an Ashkenazi Jew who flavors my English with Yiddish, I have used that phrase a number of times in my life, never thought of it as deragatory."
Not exactly the most honest statement i've ever read. Here in NYC, when jews use that word, they know "exactly" what it means and why they're using it. They perhaps fail to realize that everyone else knows too.
"Not exactly the most honest statement i've ever read. Here in NYC, when jews use that word, they know "exactly" what it means and why they're using it. They perhaps fail to realize that everyone else knows too."
I am very honest and I am from Texas not NYC, and I never want to go there, so don;t call me a liar.
Its all new to me.. I'll have to add that to the list..
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