Jackie Mason: Obama's a "Schwartza"

[WeDidIt]

Jackie Mason: Obama's a "Schwartza"

Posted Mar 15th 2009 1:35PM by TMZ Staff



Comedian Jackie Mason used what some say is a racial epithet in describing President Barack Obama during his act Friday night, infuriating at least several people in the crowd.

During a performance at Feinstein's at Loews Regency in NYC, Mason referred to Obama as a "schwartza" -- some say it's equivalent to the "N" word -- others say it's just part of the Yiddish culture and a literal translation of the word "Black."

We're told one person walked out fuming, "He's more offensive to the Jews than Madoff tonight."

We spoke with Mason by phone a few minutes ago, and he was outraged at the criticism, saying, "I'm not going to defend myself. Chris Rock has told a lot more jokes about whites than I have against Blacks. What about the demeaning words Blacks say about Jews?"

<snip>

Link To TMZ Article

What I want to know is, JAckie, when the FUCK did Barack Obama use a derogatory term about Jewish people?

When, Jackie?

Racist fuck.

[sniffa]

1. I'm shocked he's still alive

and doing shows in front of audiences. He'll be gone soon.

[WeDidIt]

3. He got into trouble when he called David Dinkins the same thing.

HE got into trouble for it back then, too.

[Ken Burch]

47. He couldn't forgive Dinkins for defeating Koch AND Giuliani in the mayor's race

n/t.

Jackie Mason is like the older relative you're embarrassed to have to visit, because you know he'll say or do something awful when you do.

[cali]

4. sob.

and won't that be just tragic. What a loss to the world.

[SoCalDem]

7. He was embarrassing to watch, back when he was marginally viable

His Borscht-belt vaudeville routines left most people cold, even back then.. I think some of the old-timey tv-radio people felt sorry for him and would throw him a few crumbs from time to time..

I'm surprised he's still alive too:)

[sniffa]

15. True, but Caddyshack 2 was brilliant

Not because of him but Robert Stack's brilliant performance.

RIP Robert.

[WeDidIt]

19. Caddyshack 2 is the reason there was never a Caddyshack 3

Caddyshack 2 sucked so much that the franchise was destroyed forever. They're lucky the Murray brothers didn't sue for defamation of character.

[SoCalDem]

22. I didn't even KNOW there was a caddyshack 2.. That fakey gopher

turned me off for the original.. even Bill Murray could not "save" the concept for me:)

[geek tragedy]

2. Jackie Mason is a racist old piece of shit.

Great candidate for throat cancer.

[Jennicut]

5. Wow. What a loser.

[tularetom]

6. "Comedian" Jackie Mason?

boy there's a stretch. That asswipe's been around for a long time but I can't remember when he was ever funny.

He does seem to be carrying a lot of anger and bitterness.

[WeDidIt]

8. Didn't he ruin the Caddyshack sequel?

I vaguely remember a Caddyshack sequel he was in.

It sucked so bad nobody ever mentions it.

[sniffa]

17. That was a great movie

[WeDidIt]

20. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

What? You're serious?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[sniffa]

24. Robert Stack was brilliant

I always watch it when it's on just for him.

It sucks compared to Caddyshack but nothing will ever come close to that.

[WeDidIt]

25. Dude!

It sucks compared to Battlefield Earth!

[Milspec]

58. Oh my it must be bad

I wouldn't watch Battlefield Earth again if it was screened on Angelina Jolie's naked body.

[AlCzervik]

90. We don't speak of that movie at my house, it didn't happen.

just like Godfather 3.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

128. Or Blues Brothers 2000

Sacrilege!

My boyfriend knows to leap for the remote and change the channel should it come on in my presence.

[Xipe Totec]

9. Chris Rock has told a lot more jokes about whites than I have against Blacks...

That's like...

You know...

Admitting it's a slur...


Step away from the mike, Jackie...

[Drunken Irishman]

10. It doesn't matter if it's Yiddish for black, if it was done to demean, it's racist.

It's that simple. You can't defend this crap.

If I were to say, "Obama is a damn black", the word black isn't a racist term, but the meaning is entirely racist! If he's calling Obama a schwartza and using it to attack Obama, then you better fucking believe it's racist and people should be appalled.

[jobycom]

11. Al Sharpton: "At this stage in Jackie's life and career...

he should get our prayers more than our responses. It is sad that maybe he forgot he used the same term against Mayor David Dinkins when he was elected the first African-American Mayor of New York City and got in trouble for it. As for him attacking me, maybe he forgot that he has had me on his TV show and has taken me to dinner and commended me for forgiving a white male who tried to kill me by stabbing me while I was leading a non-violent march. I'm sure Jackie just forgot."

I guess he's one of these guys who's just not going to change, but who also isn't going to do anything much except make himself look bad. Who knows, maybe he even helps the world by showing how someone with his mindset looks.

Still, disturbing comments:"If it's a racist society, the white people are the ones being persecuted because they have to defend themselves." Mason called people like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson "professional racists."

[WeDidIt]

13. Sharpton is showing Christian charity

I am not a Christian.

:evilgrin:

[bertman]

94. Neither is Al. He just tries to convince people he is. Reverend indeed.

[sniffa]

18. He reminds me of an ex-DUer

Something about flying shoes.

[FrenchieCat]

12. If this just meant that Obama was Black, why say it? We know this,

and don't need a comedian to provide this fact to us in any way shape or form.

Jackie Mason confirmed that meant it as an insult and a slur, which is why he defended himself by comparing himself to Chris Rock.

[ClarkUSA]

14. Jackie Mason is a BushCo-Netanyahu wingnut neocon vulgarian who is the first to scream anti-Semite.

Fortunately, his generation of idiot is dying off... literally.

[PM Martin]

16. True.

Mason is a racist!

[Ken Burch]

45. So...how would you describe the guy?

n/t.

[Brother Buzz]

21. Jackie Mason and Barbara Bush share something in common

a beautiful mind....

[Sebastian Doyle]

23. He looks completely batshit insane in that picture

Obviously it was cherry picked by TMZ for exactly that reason, but its no less the truth. Dementia maybe? The racist old fucker has to be 100 years old by now.

[Lint Head]

26. The truth 'will' set you free.

Obama's election has caused bigots and racists everywhere to show their true colors. They are having a hard time keeping their fucking mouths shut. I believe these types of idiots will be marginalized in society because most people are not racist bigots.

Watching Bill Mahr this past Friday I knew at any moment a racial slur was going to be screamed. You could read it in the panelist's face. Rush Limpballs is subversively racist because he wants to keep the FCC off of his back.

It's going to happen soon and will come from a well known right wing asshole's mouth. I just hope I'm watching live TV when it happens. I LOVE seeing fascists implode and cannibalize each other.
:dem:

[MadMaddie]

52. I agree with you it's just a matter of time

There is a high probability that they use the racist terminology behind closed doors, it's just a matter of time for them to slip in public.
It probably will be Rush or Buchanen and they will be unapologetic about it.

[rebel with a cause]

82. Oh, you mean the talking in code words that made it

impossible for him to understand anything the professor said. :sarcasm:

I told my daughter that it just proved that the idiot was an idiot and that I was ever more intelligent than he is because I understood and agreed with everything that was said by the professor. (I am horrible with names and have forgotten both of theirs.)

[skooooo]

27. Mel Brooks used it in Blazing Saddles...

...maybe I'm missing something here, but is it that big of a deal?

[WeDidIt]

28. It's a Yiddish derogatory term for African Americans

Like "moolie" is an Italian-American derogatory term for African Americans.

You'll also notice the "N" word was thrown around in Blazing Saddles, too.

[skooooo]

30. Schwarz means black in German...

I don't know that it's derogatory. Is it? Or is it just a way of saying black?

[WeDidIt]

31. It's used as a derogatory term in Yiddish

It is the same thing as calling Obama the "N" word.

[skooooo]

32. Ok,..if you say so.

Not being a smart aleck. But you know this because you have been around yiddish speaking people? Just wondering.

[WeDidIt]

33. Yes

I know this because I've been around Yiddish speaking people.

Just like I know "Moolie" is the Italian-American equivalent of the "N" word because I've been around Italian-American people.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

34. It's Derogatory

And Jewish people who use the word know it is and should know better than to use it.


That being said ,IMHO, it's not tantamount to calling an African American the n-word. It lacks the sting.


It would be akin to a Latin American calling a caucasian American a gringo. I have a friend from the Dominican Republic. I asked if his children were married to other Latin Americans. He answered "no-they are married to gringos."

[skooooo]

35. ok, nuff said

[jberryhill]

51. Just speaking for myself...

...I think "gringo" is kinda cool.

There's a Chinese derogatory word for westerners that's also sort of catchy.

[Runcible Spoon]

55. Are you thinking of "Gaijin"? That's Japanese n/t

[TahitiNut]

97. "Gaijin" means 'foreigner' ... any foreigner. It's not reserved for westerners.

It's also only mildly derogatory, and then only when used that way. The word isn't inherently derogatory in and of itself.

[rebel with a cause]

83. I was married to a Dominican at one time.

Always called myself a Gringo but knew it was an insult when some people used it. They all cracked up at me because I accepted the term and made it into just a word for not being Latino and not an insult. The term (I found) was used as an insult/compliment mostly to other Dominicans that look European. Looking like a Gringo meant you had an advantage in the 'white man's' world. I knew guys with blond hair and blue eyes that would get fighting mad when called a Gringo.

[canucksawbones]

98. the word is

Laowai, but it's not really derogatory, it just means foreigner.

[bertman]

95. One of the funniest things I saw during the Presidential campaign was a photo of a

Jewish temple's billboard (facing the street in front of the temple, where they announce services, etc.) that read:

VOTE FOR THE SCHWARTZA!


I saw nothing offensive in that, so I guess that makes me a racist like my other liberal, gay, and Jewish friends who laughed heartily at the photo.

[AnnieBW]

41. Not just Yiddish

My German grandparents used it to describe black people, too. Along with Cherny, which is Slavic (Russian/Serbian/Croatian/etc) for "black".

[skooooo]

42. ..then that may..

...say more about them than the word. As far as I know German uses the word black just like we do...to talk about "black people." But probably more formally, they use African American now.

[AnnieBW]

56. Well, yeah

Grandma was kind of racist, in a "born in 1908" kind of way. Her daughter, my mom's older sister, was the one that called someone a "Cherny" in my presence. She forgot that I was majoring in Russian, and I called her on it. :evilgrin:

[Abq_Sarah]

74. African American?

I think the term would be Afrodeutsche.

[Hepburn]

79. I totally agree:

I have a Jewish background and, yes, it is derogatory term.

[tishaLA]

39. Yes, it is derogatory

and frankly I'm amazed that the article says that "some people say" it's the Yiddish equivalent of saying "nigger." That is precisely what I have always understood it as....and I have never met another Jew who felt differently.

[Hepburn]

80. What you said....

....it was NEVER a term used in "polite" company....ever, never.

[mucifer]

46. It's like saying "negro is Spanish for black" but do you call people that.

[rebel with a cause]

84. the Spanish word for black is where the term came from.

and some in the culture do still call people that. I had a relative by marriage that's name was Negra and several girls who were named Blanca (white). ;)

[Sebastian Doyle]

48. Blazing Saddles also used another word often

I don't need to say which one, because I'm assuming most of us have seen the movie.

But the whole context of it was to show the complete stupidity of racism. Richard Pryor had a hand in writing that movie, so it could have been his doing as much as Mel Brooks. Though I'd guess the Yiddish parts were Mel's.

[trapper914]

67. Blazing Saddles t.v. pilot

We recently rented 'Blazing Saddles' on blueray and one of the special features was a t.v. pilot...starring Lou Gossett in the lead role. It's kind of bizarre to hear the n-word followed by a laugh track.

And my two cents on Caddyshack 2: It was a trainwreck. Robert Stack was good. Randy Quaid was AWESOME!

[Renew Deal]

60. Mason's explanation is more offensive than his original remark.

He's keeping score.

[regnaD kciN]

93. Blazing Saddles also used the "n-word" repeatedly...

Would it be acceptable today? Probably not.

Was it racist in Mel Brooks's case? No, because it was in the context of a story about how a black lawman became a hero to a town of previously-racist whites.

Is it racist in Jackie Mason's case? Yes, because he didn't use it in the context Brooks did, but purely as an insult directed at an African American.

'nuf said.

[goodgd_yall]

29. Jackie has just turned into an alter kocker

I can't take the guy too seriously. He needs to pack it in and retire.

[Gormy Cuss]

37. Alter kocker he is.

Shvartza is not a polite term and it's been pointed out to Mason in the past. He's a stubborn old fool.

[tomreedtoon]

91. Alter kocker? He's had genital surgery?

Numerous jokes come to mind about this term, but because I'm far nicer than Jackie Mason, I'll leave them unsaid and let them bounce around unbidden in your own minds.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

109. Alta Cocker Literally Means "Old Shit"

But people who use the term don't mean it literally. That's why slang is so dangerous.

I don't like the word "schwartza", would never use it, but realize that some folks use it without a malicious intent.

The problem is schwartz literally means black in German which Yiddish is a derivative of.

[Gormy Cuss]

119. The problem is that shvartze /schwartza is in that modern American usage it's not a polite term.

Many Yiddish words sound like their Middle High German roots but that's no guarantee that the meaning in Yiddish is equivalent, nor that the meaning of the American usage isn't different. So it literally means "black man --but is it that simple when used by English-speakers who sprinkle Yiddish slang into their speech? Mostly I'd say no. I've heard it used far more frequently as a way of saying "those people," for example in describing the neighborhood going down hill because the shvartses moved in.

And since context is everything, I'd like to hear where Mason was going with it when he called Obama a sharvtsa. He may have meant only "a black guy" but with Mason's history I'm betting not.

[OneBlueSky]

36. Jackie Mason is, and always has been, a talentless pig . . . n/t

.

[Starry Messenger]

38. Chris Rock is funny. Jackie Mason is not.

Chris Rock's "jokes about whites" take satirical pot shots at institutional racism. Jackie Mason just sounds like a caveman who is pathetic trying to compare himself to someone who actually has a sense of humor. If you have to explain a joke, it isn't funny.

[Elidor]

40. Mason has always delighted in being offensive

And he occasionally succeeds. But he's no Mel Brooks.

[Hieronymus]

43. Mason is an angry Zionist, above all else....

In July 2004, Mason allegedly called Islam a "murderous religion":

"This is amazing information that almost nobody is aware of... everyone thinks that it's a legitimate religion that preaches love and brotherhood. The truth of the matter is are reflecting the religion and following the religion they are following the orders of the religion directly from the Quran... in plain English, the whole Muslim religion is preaching and teaching hate, terrorism and murder, and nobody knows it, and its about time they found out about it. The Quran... is 50 versions of hate, venom, hostility, and murder... dedicated to terrorism... I don't know how we can call it a religion in the traditional sense. It should be called a murderous organization that's out to kill people."

[butterfly77]

44. He is a racist..

there is no reason to hate Obama especially since he has done nothing to him personally. I saw him right after Hillary lost in Iowa as far as I am concern he is nothing more than another Insane nut who thinks the world is only for some people..

[Political Tiger]

49. "What about the demeaning words Blacks say about Jews?"

The bigot's credo: They're worse than me so that makes my bigotry okay.

[tomm2thumbs]

50. a sad, pathetic little old man n/t

[regnaD kciN]

53. Well, Jesse Jackson...

...called Jews "Hymies," and Obama is just another one of His Kind, so it's all even, right? :sarcasm:

(I have no doubt that, if anyone called Mason an equivalent epithet to what he called Obama, they'd be accused of wearing a swastika armband under their jacket, having pictures of Hitler and bin Ladin adorning their bedroom, and a plan to reinstitute the Final Solution in their desk drawer. And, worse, be in favor of a Palestinian state! :eyes: )

[KharmaTrain]

54. Yes, It's Derogatory

Some Yiddish works have worked their way into our vernacular and many don't know how obscene or offensive the word really is. "Putz" is a perfect example.

For my 50 plus years of being Jewish and hearing a lot of Yiddish, Schvartze IS racist...almost always used in combinations with the words lazy or stupid. Mason is "old school"...translation: he's as bitter and racist as they come. The generation he appealed to passed on when Ed Sullivan was cancelled.

Sheesh...these goyim just never can figure it out. :rofl:

[Behind the Aegis]

64. Very good explanation!

It can be used in other ways, but typically, especially in the way he used it, it is racist.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

110. Goyim Is Also Pejorative

Coming from a mixed background that word is verbotten.

My cousins are married to Catholics. They are gentiles or Christians.


That's why slang is so dangerous.

[pink-o]

123. But "Goyim" is used kinda like "gringo"....

"Shvartze" is just plain wrong in the 21st century. (Don't forget, Mel Brooks wrote Blazing Saddles in the early 70s.)

I can't stand Jackie Mason, he's like the bitter old uncle that tells the same Holocaust stories during a Seder. Everyone is against him, everyone hates him cuz he's Jewish. What a momzer.

Here's what the golden rule is: I am Jewish, I can call myself whatever I want--a Yid, a Heeb, a Jewish American Princess. But if a gentile called me that, he'd be a racist.

Think of it like this: I will talk smack about my sister, tell you she's a Queen Bitch and she drives me crazy. But I'll beat down anyone else who criticizes her. You don't fuck with someone else's family, and that's all there is to it!

[chollybocker]

57. Jackie's Jewish victimhood schtick has grown old.

His jokes worked last century, but not anymore.

[Arugula Latte]

59. F.U., Jackie Mason. You're a piece of schmutz on the bottom of Obama's shoe.

[vaberella]

61. Wait?! Blacks have said demeaning words about Jews?!

I've never heard of them. I'm serious. Chris Rock has done it?! When?! Chris Rock also insulted the President but never called him a name that is apparently racially derogatory. So what is this do-do defending.

[4lbs]

62. Hey, Jackie Mason, yeah, so what about Chris Rock telling those jokes? He's funny and you aren't.

n/t

[Occam Bandage]

63. It's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide.

[auburngrad82]

65. Mason's a putz nt

[City Lights]

66. I've never understood how Mason made a living as a comedian.

Not funny. Ever.

[acmavm]

71. I agree 100%.

[butterfly77]

112. The audiences have been

laughing at his ugliness for all of these years..

[8 track mind]

68. Since when has Jackie Mason been funny? n/t

[demwing]

69. Is He Funny? Nope. Is it Racist? Nope

Is this newsworthy? Nope.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

70. Funny? No. Racist? Yes, clearly.

He's undeniably racist.

[Orsino]

72. I was hoping to see some context.

How did Mason use the word schwartze, exactly?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

73. Given the half dozen other racist comments he made in the story...

I'm not about the give the old fuck the benefit of the doubt.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

89. He is a fucking

racist asshole.

He is also lacking funny.

[wyldwolf]

75. Yiddish culture? So is Mason a schlamiel or a schlamazel?

[HERVEPA]

77. Schlamiel

schlamiel does an action, schlamazel is acted upon

[Hepburn]

81. Asshole in any language, IMO. n/t

[mucifer]

102. Neither. He's a putz!

[HERVEPA]

76. From my experience, growing up Jewish,

"schwartze" is a derogatory term, but not in the same category as N*****.
My dad, who had a retail business whose clientele eventually became mostly black,
used the word until I, as perhaps a 15 year old, asked him to stop, told him it was wrong. and I never heard him use it again, and I doubt he ever did.

However, he never would have considered using N*****, which had a much uglier connotation.

That being said, Jackie Mason is a racist piece of crap.

[leftynyc]

106. Same with my dad

I've heard him use schwartze but the man doesn't have a racist bone in his body. I could away with using the word fuck but never, ever the N word. That said, I also think Mason is a racist piece of shit.

[Hepburn]

78. Yes, the term is Yiddish for "Black..."

...and it most certainly is a racist term.

[demwing]

87. Why?

Why is it "most certainly" a racist term?

I've heard the exact opposite, that its a generic term for black, and not racist, in and of itself.

What's the context that makes it "most certainly" a racist term?

[Hepburn]

92. Where I grew up in the mid-West....

...there was NO doubt when it was used what it meant and that it was NOT meant in a nice manner whatsoever.

That is why I said it was "most certainly" a racist term. Maybe it was not so in other areas back in the 1950s, but in a little town in Ohio where I grew up, when an elderly Jewish person used that word, it was NEVER for a nice reason.

I should have been more clear: To me and in my experience, it was only used in a racist manner.

:hi:

[DemocratSinceBirth]

111. It's Derogatory

The question is whether it's mildly derogatory or severely derogatory. You have to look at the person using it.

That being said when a word is that loaded it's best not to use it.


I wouldn't have wanted to hear it because it was the language of the shetl.

[steven johnson]

85. Oy vey! Are you Goyim and Schiksas Mashugana?

I'm not Jewish but I learned some Yiddish to survive. You schmucks, didn't you see 'Spaceballs'?

Yogurt: I am the keeper of a greater power, a power known throughout the universe as the...
Barf: ...the Force?
Yogurt: No, the Schwartz!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094012/quotes

The fact that Rabbi Yacov Moshe Maza (yes, Jackie Mason is an ordained rabbi) would joke with you putz's and you wouldn't get it doesn't shock me.

Just ask Bernie Schwartz (Tony Curtis).

It's a fact that Elvis all his life dyed his dishwater blond hair too look like Tony Curtis. That's the power of the Schwartz.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

86. You need to learn a little more Yiddish.

[olkaz]

88. Beat me to the punch.

I know nothing more than what's taught from Howard Stern over the years, but I can see what you're talking about.

[damonm]

96. In other news,

Jackie Mason is still alive - who knew?

[demo dutch]

99. Unfortunately some of my best Jewish friends are the most racist of all my friends

[leftynyc]

107. Isn't that odd?

My Jewish friends are the least racist. Guess it depends on who you choose to hang with.

[cali]

130. Why do you have racist friends?

[Imagevision]

100. yo Jackie schmuck`schlept... you get it!

[latebloomer]

101. There is no doubt the term is racist

When I was growing up it was always in the context of "those lowlives who are denigrating the planet."

[demwing]

104. There is obviously doubt

Just read the thread. Many people disagree with you. That's doubt.

[latebloomer]

105. Wonder how many of the people who disagree

are Jewish- and grew up hearing that contemptuous tone with which the word was uttered?

PS- In looking over the thread, not many people disagreed. Most of them were you.

[leftynyc]

108. I heard it growing up and

it was rarely (almost never) with contempt. Just a Yiddish way of saying someone was black. Is there another Yiddish term for black person that I never heard?

[latebloomer]

114. I don't know of one

But I have never heard a progressively-minded Jew use the word "schvartze." The term implies bigotry.

YMMV

[leftynyc]

115. Like I said

my dad (who makes me look conservative by comparison) used it when I was younger. And I remember Jon Stewart using it in a joking way during a skit. You don't think he's a racist, do you?

[latebloomer]

116. Well, perhaps I've only heard it from racists

My far-left mom and grandpa would never have dreamed of using it.

Of course Stewart isn't a racist. In what context did he use it?

[leftynyc]

125. Explained the context

in post 124.

[leftynyc]

133. I don't have access to

streaming video at work but found it mentioned in this article

http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/02/05/a-daily-show-february-4-2008

It's from the February 4, 2008 episode.

[olkaz]

118. I'd like to see the Jon Stewart clip if possible

That seems bizarre to me. If you can produce it, I'd be much obliged.

[leftynyc]

124. I'd have to find it

but I remember it clearly. This was during the primaries and it was a conference in California that was attended by some Hasidic Jews. Jon superimposed what he thought they were talking about and one Hasid said to the other "I like the skiksa". The other said "I like the schwardze". If you'd still like the clip, you'll have to wait till I get home. Can't get you tube at the office.

[olkaz]

129. Get home yet?

I just want to examine the context.

[leftynyc]

131. No - I wont be

home till around 6PM eastern.

[leftynyc]

132. In the meantime

Here's an article that makes reference to it - paragraph 3..

http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/02/05/a-daily-show-february-4-2008


Edited to add: From the February 4, 2008 Daily Show episode. If you have access to streaming video (which I do not at work), you can check it out.

[latebloomer]

134. He's making fun of prejudice there,

not condoning it.

[leftynyc]

135. You're wrong

People on this board are trying to say schvartze is the exact same as the N word - if that were true, Jon Stewart NEVER would have used it in any context.

[latebloomer]

136. I didn't say it was exactly the same as the "N" word.

Nevertheless, it is a demeaning epithet.

Perhaps you have heard it as a term of endearment, or merely descriptive. I have only heard it in a way that implies a lower class of beings.

[leftynyc]

137. Not a term of endearment

Just descriptive. And maybe it's a generational thing. I know dad doesn't have a racist bone in his body and uses it (he's 71). I just don't think Jon Stewart would ever be thoughtless enough to use a term people found offensive racially.

[latebloomer]

138. OY!!!

I'm aure your dad is wonderful, and so is Jon Stewart.

Let's just agree to disagree, OK?

L'chaim!

:toast:

[leftynyc]

139. Okay by me

Shalom

[demwing]

113. I read 4 or 5

But i never claimed a majority. Would you have preferred I said "some" ?

Let's try it...

"Just read the thread. Some people disagree with you. That's doubt."

Yeah, works for me.

[noiretextatique]

117. most of the actual jewish people said it's a derogatory term

however there seems to be some disagreement about whether or no it is the equivalent of the N word.

[latebloomer]

120. I would say it is

But it is far less widespread and therefore not recognized by many as such.

All I can say is, immigrants who spoke mainly Yiddish had an excuse for using it. When used by their children or grandchildren, it is an epithet.

[JerseygirlCT]

103. And to top it off, he's not even funny. Just pathetic. nt

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

121. You can say that again. What a racist putz...

[JerseygirlCT]

122. He really is. And I never thought his worn out old schtick was

funny, ever.

[supernova]

126. There's no fool like an old fool

JM grew up at a time when that kind of talk was acceptable.

It isn't anymore and it isn't funny, either. Well, only to other shriveled, old, addled brains like his.

Jackie, hang it up. It isn't now and never was funny.

[kwassa]

127. Schwartz is German for black, Negro is Spanish for black ...

I always thought the Yiddish version more descriptive than derogatory, but maybe I am just meshugana.