Is saying "Jew" is racist?

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No.

To offset any real or perceived racism in this thread I shall post the Israeli national anthem. And a damned fine song it is too.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0rVDbYqE7E[/youtube]

Thank You Teq!

Have you heard this version?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5JdDrDPv2A[/youtube]

I'd like to visit Israel and see many interesting places, but I'm afraid I won't come back alive. So I keep away from war and I will go when they stop.

I went as a graduation trip after college. It wasn't nearly as dangerous as it sounded on the news. We flew El Al and everything. That was a long time ago so maybe it's different now. Masada and the Dead Sea were incredible, and of course Jerusalem. Unfortunately at a lot of the places I wanted to see, as a Christian, somebody had thrown up a huge church on top of the interesting stuff so you couldn't really see. Capernum was cool. It was a great trip despite the big churches coverying many of the best historical sites.

Kiley

I personally don't believe it will stop. How dangerous it is to other places in the World, I don't know. But I understand what you are saying. Both of my husbands have been to Israel and they loved it. I would like to go myself one day. Thank You for sharing the video Valoyossa.

Taupey

This is the version of the melody that I'm familiar with.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nAFhXeNheE[/youtube]

Thank You! Avi is so cute and she's got a wonderful voice, lots of volume and strength for a little child.

I'm reminded of this scene from "30 Rock"

Jack: "What do you call yourself?"
Elisa: "A Puerto Rican."
Jack: "No. I know you can say that but what do I call you?"
Elisa: "A Puerto Rican!"
Jack" "Wow, that does not sound right."

A while after I saw that, I saw an author refer to her Puerto Rican daughter-in-law in an acknowledgment page and damn,, I know just what Jack means! Somehow it sounds insulting, even though it's just descriptive. Perhaps because we just so rarely hear race/ethnicity referred to in a neutral way?

I confess to a preference for being referred to as Jewish, rather than a Jew, probably also for no good reason. Jewess is definitely insulting. I'm not happy when Jewish friends use the phrase "Jewed him down" in front of my kid -- which is somewhat hypocritical of me, because I haven't given up "gypped."

It's not a race. There are ethnicities that developed due to the practice of judaism, but a jew can be of any race, and not everyone who is ethnically "jewish" is a jew.

I think it's more about WHEN is saying 'Jew' racist.

Jewish people and Jewish comedians (Woody Allen, Jacky Mason) use the word Jew all the time.

African American people and comedians (Eddie Murphy) use a term (amongst themselves) that is considered outrageous when spoken by others (Michael Richards), particularly the 'Caucasian' segment of the population.

Why do YOU think you are being offensive (and perhaps feeling guilty) when you say the word Jew

Yes, she is and she has a beautiful voice And the melody is also hauntingly beautiful, I think.
The text:
Hebrew:
כֹּל עוֹד בַּלֵּבָב פְּנִימָה
נֶפֶשׁ יְהוּדִי הוֹמִיָּה,
וּלְפַאֲתֵי מִזְרָח, קָדִימָה,
עַיִן לְצִיּוֹן צוֹפִיָּה;

עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ,
הַתִּקְוָה בַּת שְׁנוֹת אַלְפַּיִם,
לִהְיוֹת עַם חָפְשִׁי בְּאַרְצֵנוּ,
אֶרֶץ צִיּוֹן וִירוּשָׁלַיִם.


Transliteration
Kol ‘od balleivav penimah
Nefesh yehudi homiyah,
Ul(e)fa’atei mizrach kadimah,
‘Ayin letziyon tzofiyah;

‘Od lo avdah tikvateinu,
Hatikvah bat shnot alpayim,
Lihyot ‘am chofshi be’artzeinu,
Eretz-tziyon (v)'Y(e)rushalayim.

English translation:

As long as in the heart, within,
A Jewish soul still yearns,
And onward, towards the ends of the east,
An eye still gazes toward Zion;

Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free people in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

I live with two people who both say that they are a Jew. They don't find it offensive, however if I used it in an insulting manner like, 'you stupid Jew' or something like that (I wouldn't BTW) then yes, it would be very offensive. Cartman is a good example, always using 'Jew' like a dirty word, however Kyle sometimes even says 'I am a Jew'. Okay so he is a cartoon character, but Matt Stone is Jewish so I suppose it's okay for him!

It exists in many languages. It took the early Zionists a while to settle on Hebrew as the language, and some of the earlier proposals actually have German (!) as the language they were going to speak in Israel. (You can find a gorgeous German version of the Israeli national anthem on Youtube.) History produces bitter ironies, indeed.

As for the OP question: if you search for 'jew' using google you get a pretty good explanation. There's nothing inherently racist about the use of the word 'Jew'--it's a proper noun indicating ethnicity, like 'Turk' or 'Englishman'--but because the noun is heavily used by racists, it tends to sound impolite. It shows the way words can get connotations even if they intrinsically don't start out with them.

There's a subtle difference in that 'Jewish person' indicates the person is a person, whereas 'Jew' simply states they are a Jew. These aren't mutually exclusive, of course, but they were in some places and times.

So the word isn't racist, but an overhearing Jewish person might think it is.

Let me begin with the fact that Jewish is a RELIGION, not a RACE. Racism implies that you hate someone for the color of their skin, or their ethnicity. They can not change the fact that they are a certain color, while Jewish people do have the option of changing faiths. (Not that they should, but the option IS on the table.) In order for the word "Jew" to be considered offensive would apply to not only how it was used, but also on how the person you are speaking to feels about the term. It could be that they had an issue in the past with someone using the word Jew as an offensive term, and thus, they would have a negative association with the word. Taken out of context, the definition of Jew is just a follower of the Jewish faith. Thus, there is nothing offensive about it. When placed in the context of a regular conversation about the Jewish faith, and if the person does not have a negative affiliation with the word Jew, they will most likely not find the term offensive. (Obviously there will be some cases where they might find it offensive, since we are humans and all think differently.) If you are using "Jew" in a joke, don't. Just don't. It's rude, and believe it or not, it is not funny to make fun of the six million people killed in the holocaust, and the millions more that have been killed or persecuted throughout history.
So to sum all that up, no, the word Jew should not be offensive, so long as you don't intend it to be, but JUDAISM IS A RELIGION NOT A RACE. Hope this helped!!