[Taneia]

I have been raised "culturally Jewish" (as opposed to religiously) in a multi-ethnic family. Recently, I've experienced being quite offended by online conversations in mostly black-oriented chat rooms where someone (who either doesn't know or doesn't care that I'm Jewish) has made stereotypical comments about Jewish people owning all the media and banks, and making negative comments to that effect. What is the rationale for the Jewish stereotype of the greedy, capitalist cheapskate? And do non-Jewish black folks know that there are black Jews out there? That we feel offended when we're branded by members of the black community with negative stereotypes??

User Detail :  

Name : Taneia, Gender : F, Race : multi-ethnic, Age : 26, City : Toronto, Ontario, State : NA Country : Canada, Occupation : grad student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[John J. D.]

I had always understood that it was because in some countries Jews were not allowed to own land, and so they had to be merchants; and that perhaps furthermore, their cultural emphasis on the importance of education enabled them to be sort of a middle class. But perhaps this itself is a stereotype.

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Name : John J. D., Gender : M, Religion : Catholic, Age : 22, City : Washington, State : DC Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

[Samuel]

The simplest answer I can give you is "consider the source." During my earliest days of web surfing, I used to visit several black-oriented chat rooms, but was turned off by the disturbing level of aggressive ignorance that was usually on display there. The few bright spots of intellect weren't worth my time (perhaps the same could be said for most chat rooms of any kind?) I do believe, though, that a larger issue is at work. For two groups of people with such similar recent histories of suffering brutal oppression (i.e., American slavery and the European Holocaust), you'd think blacks and Jews would automatically consider themselves spiritual kin. Alas, our history of oppression in this country has not granted enough blacks the gift of insight, or even empathy. Too many of us continue to hate ourselves, and are quick to leap on the bandwagon of bigotry regarding other perennial targets of discrimination.

Next time you see this sort of talk, perhaps you should urge the offenders to visit a Passover seder: Maybe then they'll begin to develop a clue.

User Detail :  

Name : Samuel, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 31, City : Chicago, State : IL Country : United States, Occupation : Firefighter, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Gail G.]

I can say a bit about the source of the stereotype. In Medieval Europe, Christians believed it was a sin to deal in money, so money lending became the profession of Jews. In fact, the only one they were allowed to have. If you've borrowed money, you understand how the rich people of Europe felt about money lenders. They (the rich people) loved the Jews when they needed money. But when it came time to pay it back, their feelings changed. In some countries Jews were expelled when the king owed them money, and then he welcomed them back in when he needed money again. A law of the time said that, when a Jew died, his property belonged to the king. So, any money a Jew had, he had to make during his lifetime. So, here you have a combination of being limited to the profession of money lender, having to support your family only on what you yourself make, and living under the threat of having to pick up and leave. You can see how this would make a person careful about money, and appear greedy to others. And, if those others owed that person money, well, you get the idea. Of course, as time went by, and some of the laws changed, there were some Jewish families that did become rich. There were also some rich Jews that came to America and continued the banking tradition. However, most Jews who came to this country were poor and trying to build new lives in the land of plenty.

User Detail :  

Name : Gail G., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish/Pagan/Atheist, Age : 35, City : Oakland, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Technical Writer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Rikki]

I think it's interesting that the writer would focus on negative stereotypes coming from the black community. Believe me, there are people in all communities who continue with this stupidity. That being said, there is an historical basis for some of this. In many cases, Jews were the last group of merchants to leave the black community before the 1960s. People in my mother's age group can remember feeling mistreated and cheated by these merchants, who sometimes displayed unconscionable behavior. If the merchants had been Irish or Italian, those groups would have been painted with the same broad brush as the Jewish community, based on the activities of some of these merchants.

User Detail :  

Name : Rikki, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 50, City : Cleveland, State : OH Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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