Hi,
At the end of class on Friday, you said "another reason we say in China that the US supports Israel is the Jews control Wall Street."
I'm not sure if you really believe this or you were just joking, but either way I don't think your comment was correct or appropriate. Saying Jews control Wall Street reflects a negative stereotype that originated in the Middle Ages. At that time, Jews were forbidden to hold most jobs due to their religion. Money lending was one of the only professions available to them, because handling money was seen as dirty or sinful and people believed only the Jews were low enough to engage in this practice. Because religious persecution caused many Jews to become money lenders, today people mistakenly associate Jews with money and greed.
Additionally, we've been discussing concepts like orientalism, otherizing, and racism in class and I think grouping all Jews together (by merit of race or religion) and then attributing characteristics like "control wall street" to them is a pretty clear example of engaging in these negative behaviors. After spending weeks discussing the inadequacies of stereotypes like the Oriental other, Muslim terrorist, and Palestinian threat, I'm surprised you didn't realize it might be unfair to perpetuate the stereotype of the "rich, greedy Jew".
I would like it if you could apologize and explain this error in class next week, because I don't feel comfortable learning in an environment where my teacher is instructing my classmates that anti-semitism is acceptable. Please email me before then to let me know whether or not you understand my concerns.
Thank you,
Jessica Lynch
October 25, 2008
To My Global Studies Teaching Assistant
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4 comments:
Amazing. Very well put my dear!
did you actually send that or is it venting?
I'm not sure if he meant anything by it. China has a long, cherished tradition of having very weird ideas about how the rest of the world works. It's actually even built into the language, the word indicating "China" is zhong (δΈ). It literally means "middle," which totally is a product of their traditional belief that they're the hub around which the world turns.
Ok, linguistic tangent aside, Chinese people have odd ways of putting things, and it's more than likely that your TA didn't mean "we say" as an indication of his own belief, but rather that it's the prevailing attitude. Which is totally true, by the way. Antisemitic attitudes are pretty damn prevalent in places where there aren't many Jews, especially in a place like China where information about the outside world is pretty much channeled through official state media sources.
You still deserve an explanation, though, and I'm glad to know that you got the chutzpah to demand one. Just be understanding.
And stop being such a Jew.
i toned it down a bit before sending. i was absolutely hoping it was a mistake/lack of awareness (i knew some of that about china) but at the same time it was a scary email to send because he could have been actually anti-semitic too.
anyways, he was very apologetic and hadn't realized, but he asked if we could just "let it go"
so i pointed out that when he's teaching, his words carry extra weight and while it's possible everyone disregarded the comment, its also possible someone who already thinks jews are obsessed with money is now even more confidant of that. basically, i made like another jewish stereotype and told him that i would be impressed if he turned it into a positive lesson, but, as the teacher, he should make his own choice about what he wishes to discuss in class, and i would understand and respect that.
thanks friends!
ps- the high you get from being indignant about things is better than shoplifting. i suppose that's a mostly positive thing to be wary of.
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