An associate used the term "They tried to Jew me down" when discussing selling

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his truck. Is the term racist? He himself is a nice guy from Oklahoma and did not think about what he had said.

Will some Americans view this post as a question concerning Political Correctness?

Although I do not view him as a racist, do you feel that the term that he used was? Your thoughts?
Studbolt (below)
Vermin (below)

I agree. I think that terms that were passed around decades ago were meant to be just that and as their children grew up they simply use the term without thinking about it

It is racist and religiously bigoted in my view. Yet I wonder if some will consider this as being too "politically correct".


This is why I posted this Q. I want to know the views of others even if we do not agree.
Capricor... (below) Agreed.
Mel (below) Hi! I think you are taking Christ out of context.

Anyway, barganing is more frequent in urban areas. We haggle in the city over everything without even realizing it. In most of the older major cities, it doesn't matter if the person is Jewish when it comes to that.

Great to see you.
 
No it is not racists. Jew are notorious for talking down prices and never wanting to pay the same prices as others so in fact it is a true statement.It is taught to them by their families and has be for generations. Even Jesus talked about the Money lenders which were Jews.
 
Yes it's derogatory, perhaps "ignorant" would be a better characteriztion of the Oklahoman...

I agree with your fine analysis...
 
Oklahoma you say?

He might not even know there's a whole race of people known as "Jews".
 
When I was a law student, there was a story that an on-campus recruiter, a partner with an important law firm with a large contingent of Jewish lawyers, had been interviewing a student who'd just said he had spent the previous summer working in NYC's Garment District. When the interviewer asked him what he'd learned from the experience, the student replied "I learned how to Jew people down." I believe the recruiter complained to the dean.

I don't know to this day whether the story is true. I had never even heard that expression til I heard the story.

It's derogatory, I would assume. I wouldn't use it. But I grew up in NYC amidst all sorts of people, so I sort of "absorbed" that attitude.
 
I grew up my entire life hearing the phrase "thats the pot calling the kettle black" and never thought anything of it because our pots and stove kettle were made out of black cast iron.

Then someone pointed out the racial element to me, which actually made me think about the phrase a bit more.

I refrain from using it now.

But did get a laugh out of the "jew them down" comment. A jewish friend of mine uses the term all the time to discuss how he got a great deal on a purchase.

So in effect, I never really thought that one out much either until recently.
 
The phrase is certainly rooted in bigotry, but I myself didn't get the connection as a derogatory comment against Jews until I was a teen.

Did you know the phrase "he gypped me" is also rooted in bigotry? It is based on the assumption that gypsies are crooks.

"Welsh on a bet" is another example, as is "Going Dutch"
 
"He himself is a nice guy from Oklahoma and did not think about what he had said"

A: You can be a nice guy from Oklahoma who's anti-Semitic or ignorant.

B: Being a nice guy from Oklahoma doesn't excuse you from thinking before you speak.

I feel that some terms or phrases in the English language are ignorant, such as "Stop acting like a girl" and other sexist things like that. His comment was rather ignorant, but I hardly see him as a skinhead or anything.
 
Jewish isn't a race so no, it is not racist. Many Jews that I know would take that as a compliment.
 
Technically yes but people are people. It's an expression based in prejudice originally, I wouldn't be offended if someone used it like he did but maybe I would if I was Jewish.

I'd say live and let live, also depending what kind of person this associate is in every day life. Racism is wrong and all that, even illegal where I live, but some people can be too sensitive. It's not absolute, almost nothing is.

EDIT I do think your view is too politically correct but to each its own
 
what's the difference between a jew and a canoe....?
even a canoe tips....lmmfao
 
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