I completely agree with you!! Hate that word.
And sadly, I know people who use it without a 2nd thought.

Well written post!

I agree. It’s horrible and inexplicable.

I didn’t find the video that funny, but mainly because it wasn’t funny. I wasn’t offended, either, though.

I don’t think there are any problems with doing impressions of stereotypes.

I do think, however, that saying “shvartz impression” was offensive. That really is the equivalent to someone commenting “Oh, I heard there’s an awesome nigger impression here.” and then she replies with “Awesome!”

WEll, that’s the point, really, here.

I saw the video. Felt weird about it…but decided to shrug my feeling off.

UNTIL I SAW HER COMMENT SECTION.

and she seemed totally 100% okay with the shvartz comment.

And that’s when I got angry.

I guess it’s only fair to comment here since I also weighed in on twitter too. first, thanks for the post, it gives us a better venue to discuss/comment.
OK, here is my opinion:
I watched the video. I did not think it was funny BUT I am also not sure I found it offensive either.
The video was posted on a personal page, not a FAN page so I am not even sure it is fair to comment on it, I saw the video but without proper context, y’know?
I can HONESTLY say I had NO IDEA that shvartz was THAT derogatory a word. I don’t use it but am now glad I understand it’s intent is to hurt and be malicious, I never will. In fact, it opened up a great conversation with my kids yesterday, so thanks for that.
I am not sure I would have called the twitter convos *drama* though. Obvioulsy I did not see every comment, but enough that MY impression was that, it was in fact , an awesome, honest, frank open discussion about some really awkward topics. And it was refreshing to able to tackle crap like that so openly WITHOUT drama. To me, *drama* kind of belittles the whole conversation, implying that emotions & theatrics overruled good sense and well thought out opinions.
Ali, I love that you are willing to talk about these things though – ignorance is no excuse and I was given a pretty good education last night. THANKS!!!

Wow. This is a tough one.
I did watch the video in question.
I didn’t find it funny.
I also didn’t find it offensive. I’m also not attached to the history of the word.
I guess it comes down to semantics? What’s in a word?
I am in no way comparing the 2 – but I know ALOT of people who are very specific about how to talk about our special needs kids. I am not. I don’t care about autism vs autistic. The word retarded doesn’t offend me – I just choose not to use it. What offends some doesn’t mean a lick to others.
I dunno…it’s a personal perception on an issue. You are absolutely more than 100% entitled to be offended. You just can’t be more offended if others don’t feel the same way.

And of course, no one should tell you what you should or shouldn’t be upset about, Ali. We feel what we feel, and we’re all entitled… it’s good that you’re talking about it here. Great post!!

I’ve never heard that word before Ali, but anyone telling you that you are wrong to be offended by it, can suckit.

I watched the video and the first thing I thought was that it wasn’t funny. As it went on I started to feel like not only was it not funny, but it had racist undertones. THEN I read the comments, where people openly discussed that she wasn’t doing a “nail-person” imitation (as some speculated on Twitter) – in fact, a family member confirmed she was doing a “black person” impression and proceeded to use a horrible word, and the person in the video LAUGHED at the comment.

Which means the video wasn’t made to do “nail lady” impressions, it was made to do “black people” impressions and in a derrogatory way. Which means the intent was there. And she had enough good sense to know that it was in poor taste and offensive by lamenting the video’s “reposting.”
If she thought it was just lowbrow comedy, she would most likely be thrilled her funny clip was being shared with the world…which means the video is just as bad as you are saying it is.

Good for you for speaking up.

I’ve never heard that word before in my life, but if that’s what it means, then… yeah. That’s pretty awful.

And I didn’t think the video was funny, but I also tend to think that people doing impressions of racial/ethnic stereotypes is never funny. Maybe that’s just me.

I was one of the people on Twitter, Ali, and I don’t think that is what people were saying AT ALL. It was about being reactionary. AND it was NOT personal. No one was telling you, specifically, how to feel or think. We were sharing OUR perspectives and opinions. And yes, they differed from yours.

Let me clarify, I didn’t find the video very funny either. I am neither Jewish nor black so it wasn’t personal but it just wasn’t that funny.

However, my point on Twitter was to take a step back and try to see the whole picture. I don’t think this woman is an evil racist out to cause harm. Was she ignorant? Yes. Was her intention to make people laugh? It seems like it. Did the comments reveal something ugly? Obviously. But if YOUR intention was to help people see your perspective getting up in arms and reacting by pointing fingers and shouting racism is not productive. It will only cause more reaction and anger and defensiveness. It certainly won’t help her see your point of view. And it was, in my opinion, over the top under the circumstances.

We should be able to have discussions and differing opinions or interpretations of what we see. And we should be prepared to listen should someone interpret things differently.

Did this go too far? Likely. Does she need to be enlightened as to how it was seen as offensive by others? Sure. But I have to go back to her intention and I just don’t think it warrants this reaction.

That was all I was trying to say. I guess I don’t think every ignorant comment or person should be tarred with the same racist brush (is that racist?). Some people are evil but there is a big difference between THAT and this.

I haven’t seen the video so I don’t want to weigh in on whether or not it was offensive vs. funny. But as someone who writes for a living, I constantly hold in the back of my mind the weight words carry. I can put positive words into the world, or I can put negative hateful words into the world.

I see you as a person with integrity and passion – I’m glad you wrote about this 🙂

Jen. I am NOT saying that she’s an evil person. I never said that ANYWHERE. I am, however, shocked that she and her cousin use the word AS IF IT’S NOT A BIG DEAL…and it bothered me that the video is going viral within my Jewish Facebook network.

Maybe I RTd something because I was angry…but you know what? I was angry. And I am still angry.

As a Jew, I am appalled that anyone would use that word, or not be alarmed by it showing up casually on in her comment section.

So, I spoke up.

AND you and Marci are only seeing a fraction of what was going down on MY twitter stream last night and you are not seeing what was in my DMs…so I’m not saying that YOU are telling me how to feel, but when I tell you that there were people telling me..THERE WERE.

I am ALL for open discussion and listening to what other people have to say…and of course I did. Some people found it funny. I’m okay with that. Some people found it non-offensive. I’m okay with that.

I am NOT okay with anyone using the word shvartz. AT ALL. NEVER EVER EVER. And I’m allowed to say that and feel that.

Oh my gosh, Ali, thank you for this! I had a similar situation with my husband’s family (who are Jewish) referring to African Americans as “schvartz.” Now, I know what the word means, but am not Jewish, so I was a little confused by their usage of it and thought, though I would NEVER, EVER use it, that maybe it was a cultural “thing” on which I shouldn’t comment. (Lord knows, I’ve inadvertently stepped into those minefields before) I was also genuinely puzzled because as you pointed out, OMG, if the roles were reversed, there would (and should) be outrage. So, thank you for speaking up and out.

Oh, Ali. I missed all of this until this post.

I’ve never even heard that word until today I grew up (and live in) areas where the Jewish culture is pretty much non-existent. Heck, you are the first Jewish friend I’ve ever had, and you live across the country.

As for people telling you not to feel offended, based on what you’ve explained, I can’t see how you could NOT be offended.

Backing you up here, sister. Love you.

This is really interesting.
I see it happening repeatedly on twitter. One person’s idea of humour is hurtful and offensive to someone else.
I think we all have to be aware that we come from different backgrounds, cultures, belief systems, families and perspectives.
What’s okay for person A is not remotely okay for person B. Sometimes humour can cross the line — or be perceived to cross the line – from funny to offensive bigotry.
Passive aggression, racism, misogyny, hate ++ are sometimes couched in “jokes.”
In our household we call some jokes “happy teasing” but they too can go too far — when they’re at somebody else’s expense.
If you’re offended, you have a right to your feelings.

Just my two cents.
Pam @writewrds

>Hi Guest…I actually *WAS* offended by that video as well…because you know what sucks?

>JEWS HATING ON OTHER JEWS.

>I have felt enough of that myself… because I am not orthodox, but many people I know are. Let me tell you how AWESOME they make me feel….

Great. I’m glad it too my comment to remind you to mention it. A shame the way you felt didn’t merit an entire post.

I didn’t see the twitter conversation.

You are totally justified to feel the way you do. You found the video offensive and no one should make you feel bad for that.

Ever.

What Katy said, my words exactly. Good for you.

Ali, you’re going to feel how you want to feel about it and you are ENTITLED to that.

I watched it, also failed to see the humor in it overall, however didn’t find it (the video) offensive as for the comment section, well perhaps they were trying to be “polite” and using a word that isn’t common to most people? I had NO clue what it meant until 2 mins ago. Not that I’m defending them, just speculating.
In any case, if someone get’s their panties in a knot over how YOU feel about it, I would just kindly remind them that you’re entitled to your opinions as are they. Then maybe punch them in the face if they get too douchy.
Good for you for staying true to you and how you feel!

Thank you for this post! It is up to those of us who know to educate those who do not. It IS an offensive word.

I find it rather stupid when people use Yiddish words in ordinary conversation when they have absolutely no idea of their origin or meaning.

Um. I never claim to be perfect. I never claim to not ever be offensive. But, again, my space, my place…I’m ALLOWED to feel offended. And I’m allowed to talk about it.

If you feel offended by anything I write about…I encourage you to either

a) pipe up here. Leave me comment. Call me out on it. EDUCATE me.

or

b) don’t come back.

Obviously, I wasn’t offensive enough to keep you from coming back to my site…um..at least 106 times, at least according to my statcounter.

I definitely think you should stand up for what you believe and call things out when you believe they are wrong or hateful. I wish there were more people like you that would stand up for what they believe and call things like this out into the light and actually say, “Hey, this is not ok.” That is the exact reason I wrote the Let’s Start a Movement post.