[Barb]

I don't know anything about the history of that particular neighborhood or why there is that division. But I can tell you that my observation is that not only do most Jews not hate black people, we tend to identify with them to some extent. It was not very long before the civil rights movement in the '60s that there was still rampant state-supported discrimination against Jews in this country (e.g. quotas for the maximum number of Jews admitted into colleges, clubs barring Jews from membership, etc.). And I have no doubt that there would always have been more obvious ugliness toward Jews if it were always as readily apparent that a person is Jewish as it is that a black person is black. I think that's probably the reason so many Jewish people came out in support of the black civil rights movement.

I can tell you that as a young child, probably around 1960 or so, I had an exchange with my Jewish mother that made a strong and lasting impression on me. At the time, the preferred term among African Americans was still Negro. I was probably four or five years old, living in an ethnically mixed but all-white neighborhood, out playing with some non-Jewish friends. A black man drove past, and one of my friends said something about him being a 'nigger.' I corrected her and said the word was 'Negro' - my innocent mind thinking that we were merely disagreeing on pronunciation. They insisted I was wrong. When I got home, I said to my mother, 'Mom, Mary said the word is 'nigger,' not 'Negro.' My mother stopped dead in her tracks in absolute horror, stooped down to my eye level, took me by the shoulders and explained very emphatically that I was NEVER to use that word, and she somehow explained in a way my young mind could understand that it was a word people used to hurt black people's feelings, and that I must never, ever use it. I understood that she was telling me something really important, and I've always been grateful to her for that early lesson.

Anyway, my point is that many Jewish people not only have nothing against black people, but feel a certain bond with them based on similar backgrounds of oppression. You've raised an interesting question, though, because I've often gotten the impression that a lot of black people hate Jewish people. I hope I'm wrong, too. Black people and Jewish people hating one another would be sort of a dream come true for the KKK, don't you think?

User Detail :  

Name : Barb, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 46, City : Reading, State : PA Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Barb]

I haven't heard that - the standard 'joke' I've always heard is that women are bad drivers. Maybe women tend to be a little more tentative, which can be dangerous (or at least annoying). Men also generally outperform women in spatial areas, so there is probably at least a slightly greater proportion of men who are good at doing things like quickly parallel parking. However, I think women are better drivers in that men are far more likely to be overly aggressive. Most road rage incidents involve men, and men - especially young men - are far more likely to speed, tailgate, etc. I think that when women are the most dangerous is when they are driving around with a carful of kids. Simply being a mother seems to have an effect on women's driving. I have a good friend who was a great driver until she had kids. I became terrified to be in a car with her. She was always distracted, if not directly by what the kids were saying or doing at the moment, then by thinking about the dozens of things she had to do. She got into several accidents by doing things like sailing right through stop signs while simultaneously looking for an address and paying too much attention to her kids. I think men are better able to focus on one thing and not allow all those distractions, so they probably do better on that score.

User Detail :  

Name : Barb, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 46, City : Reading, State : PA Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Barb]

What on earth can be construed as racist about Eeny Meeny Miny Mo?

User Detail :  

Name : Barb, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 46, City : Reading, State : PA Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Barb]

Without getting into whether male circumcision is ever a valid choice, I think it is inaccurate to state that female circumcision is the equivalent of male circumcision. Female circumcision, or genital mutiliation, completely removes the clitoris...sometimes the vulva as well. This would be the equivalent of chopping off the head of the penis - not just removing the foreskin - as well as stripping off almost the entire shaft, leaving only a tiny area necessary to allow urination.

User Detail :  

Name : Barb, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 46, City : Reading, State : PA Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Barb]

I don't know the answer to your question - or even whether it's true that lice show up predominantly in white children and ringworm shows up predominantly in black children. I just wanted to reply to your mention of 'ring worms.' Despite its name, ringworm has nothing to do with worms. It's a fungal infection, like athlete's foot.

User Detail :  

Name : Barb, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 46, City : Reading, State : PA Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Barb]

I agree with Rick. I don't think it has anything to do with race. I think it's because white bread, as compared with other breads, is bland and without much substance.

User Detail :  

Name : Barb, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 46, City : Reading, State : PA Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Barb]

Mrs. Cunningham on 'Happy Days' was always referred to as Mrs. C. I had a homeroom teacher in sixth grade whose name I can't quite remember, but it was not Italian, and we called her Mrs. C, too. I think it's more a trend with anyone with long or hard-to-pronounce names, and it just happens that a lot of Italian names are long or hard to pronounce. And it could also just be motivated by that affectionate respect - it's a nickname of sorts, which conveys affection and closeness, but isn't so presumptuous as using the person's first name.

User Detail :  

Name : Barb, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 46, City : Reading, State : PA Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Barb]

Actually, many (I suspect most here in the United States) Jewish people do mix meat and milk, because only the more observant Jews maintain a kosher diet as prescribed in the Torah, and only those who keep kosher have the meat/dairy prohibition. I'm no authority, being a reform Jew relatively ignorant of kosher dietary restrictions, but I've found this web site that explains the background of that rule: http://shamash.org/lists/scj-faq/HTML/faq/06-16.html

User Detail :  

Name : Barb, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 46, City : Reading, State : PA Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Author]

Posts