By nature, I am one who shies away from internet drama. I don’t always weigh in on the spectacle du jour. In fact, I am usually one of the last to even hear about it and I don’t even know what linkbait actually is when I see it fly by in my twitter stream. I tend to stick to my own thing over here in this little space. I am proud to say that I have been troll-free since ’03. Actually, that’s kind of a lie, but I only have one troll and since her IP has been blocked, there has been little feather-ruffling around here. But, yesterday, a little drama went down, and not only did I know about it, I may have had a hand in causing some of the stir.
It all started on Facebook. A few days ago, I took a look at my news feed and saw that several of my Facebook friends had all posted the same video. And then I saw it some more. And then some more. And then some more. So, finally, I clicked on it. I mean, the comments, after all, were filled with things like, “OMG! I love this girl! She is hilarious!”
I like funny people, so I clicked. Only, I didn’t laugh. I didn’t even find it funny at all. In fact, I was slightly uncomfortable watching it. I found it mildly offensive, actually. What it is, folks, is a video of an Orthodox Jewish girl named Deena entitled “gettin’ mah nails did.” You can feel free to watch the video here. Some people probably looked at it thought that she was just a girl who did impressions.
But I didn’t. I thought it was in poor taste and was about to just walk away.
BUT, something caught my eye. It was her comment section.
Now, if you take a look at the comment a few down, by a Naftoli Mann, it says these words:
so the girls in my office were talking about how this girl is doing black imitation, how funny etc etc and i was thinking however good this girl is MY cousin could prob wipe her with her shvartz impressions. and i went on and it was you! lol
A comment to which Deena Mann replied with these words:
lol thats awesome!! ya supposedly the whole world posted it on their page…..not so awesome
I’m sorry. WHAT????
“black imitation”
“shvartz impression”
“lol that’s awesome”
I am now completely at a loss for words.
SHVARTZ.
SHVARTZ.
Seriously?
Just putting that horrifying word in writing is making me sick to my stomach.
Do people not realize how ridiculously derogatory this word is? Yes, you can argue that it simply means “black” in Yiddish. But, I can argue that unless you are 85-years-old and Yiddish is your first and only language, you are using it in a ridiculously offensive way. In fact, I’d go out on a limb to tell you that the only word I find more offensive is the n-word. I’m not even kidding.
So, the more I thought about it, the angrier I got.
SERIOUSLY? JEWS? BEHAVING LIKE THIS?
I don’t know if you know this, but we Jews know a thing or two about racism and persecution. I wonder, even, if the tables were turned. If there was a lovely girl sitting at her kitchen table deciding to make a video with her “awesome impression” of the Chassidic woman she knows. And I wonder if people would watch it and check out her comments section and take a look at what her cousin had to say about her “dirty jew imitation” or her “KIKE IMPRESSION?” What do you think would happen there? Do you think Jews would be offended?
DO WE REALLY NEED TO SPECULATE?
The most shocking thing to me, actually, was when I took it to twitter. My entire twitter stream was filled with people telling me that I WAS WRONG TO FEEL OFFENDED BY THIS AND THAT I NEED TO STOP TRYING SO HARD TO BE PC AND LEARN TO LAUGH AT MYSELF AND THAT SHE ISN’T A CRUEL PERSON AND THAT I NEED TO STOP BEING ANGRY AT HER AND THINK THAT IT’S FUNNY BECAUSE SHE DIDN’T MEAN TO BE OFFENSIVE.
I’m sorry, you guys.
Because it’s funny is not a good enough excuse for me.
Because she may or may not have non-racist intentions is not a good enough excuse for me.
Because she and her readers are ignorant is not a good enough excuse for me.

45