People are talking about the fact that The Onion used the word “kike” to mock the refusal by Dan Snyder to change the name of the Washington Redskins. Snyder is Jewish, and the Onion headlines its story, “Redskins’ Kike Owner Refuses To Change Team’s Offensive Name.” The story also uses the epithet “hook-nosed kike” and “shifty-eyed Hebe.”
Redskins is a slur for Native Americans, so the Onion is satirizing in a good cause (the same cause Lawrence O’Donnell has taken up on MSNBC, also citing Snyder’s Jewishness). But the story has made some uncomfortable, among them the JTA, whose story is headlined, “The Onion deploys Jewish slurs to skewer Redskins owner;” the Atlantic Wire, which is ambivalent about the usage– “journalists have been unsure how to discuss the story and whether it crosses the line or not, while still retweeting the story link”– and Salon, which seems to think it’s OK in the end. “Though the first reaction for many… was shock, it seemed that some self-identified Jewish journalists didn’t seem to mind. In fact, they actually enjoyed it…” (Further evidence of the decay of the Jewish establishment.)
Max Blumenthal explained to me that the Onion is not being condemned because it has made an important point:
“An already widely reviled corporate titan who happens to be Jewish has mounted the most aggressive PR campaign in recent history to defend slurs against Native Americans, the victims of an ongoing genocide, cheapening slurs against historically oppressed groups in general. Of course Snyder would be furious if Auschwitz inmates were recast as professional sports mascots. The subversive impact of the Onion’s satire derives from that hypocrisy.”
One thing everyone agrees on is that the story is increasing pressure on Snyder, whose stance is indefensible (and linked to the fact that his fan-base is southern).
Another angle of interest on this story is that the ADL, which has suggested that the team’s name be changed, has shown great deference to Snyder in this statement saying it’s up to the ownership and the “fan base:”
the decision to change the name should come from the team’s ownership with input from the fan base. It is up to them to decide to let go of this hurtful tradition.
But when Qatari officials chose to remove an Israeli flag from outside an aquatic center during a swimming tournament earlier this week, the ADL showed no such deference, condemning them out of hand for the decision.
People are talking about the fact that The Onion has used the word “kike” in a satirical article.
Oh, my assumption was that the K-word you mean is “kushi”. I had to look up “kike”.
Honestly, I don’t understand the fuss about the term “redskins”. To me, it sounds like a neutral word.
In Germany, Romani people want to ban the name of the dish “Zigeunerschnitzel” (gipsy schnitzel).
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zigeunerschnitzel
http://img.dooyoo.de/DE_DE/175/essen_trinken/fertiggerichte/maggi_fix_fuer_zigeuner_schnitzel.jpg
In an online survey, 86% of Germans think that this is silly. I agree.
http://www.haz.de/content/collectedinfo/2457052
I wonder when the Viennese will start complaining that a schnitzel is named after them.
Of course Snyder would be furious if Auschwitz inmates were recast as professional sports mascots. The subversive impact of the Onion’s satire derives from that hypocrisy.
Oh, that’s pure speculation! As long as Snyder didn’t condemn the use of a Jewish slur in a similar way, you can’t know whether he is actually a hypocrite or not.
I don’t think it’s okay to cite Snyder’s Jewishness and to simply make assumptions about him based on his Jewishness. If you want to prove that he has double standards, then you need to focus on what he says, not on what he is.
“Another angle of interest on this story is that the ADL, which has suggested that the team’s name be changed, has shown great deference to Snyder in this statement saying it’s up to the ownership and the ‘fan base:'”
Interesting. Remeber that this is the alleged civil rights group that joined hands and fought shoulder to shoulder with Pam Gellar’s rabble in the attempt to prevent Muslims from exercise thier First Amendment religious freedoms by building the mosque in New York. Foxman had no problem stating what someone should or should not do in that situation, but is deferential here. Something tells me that if the owner of the team was a Muslim, that the ADL wouldn’t show such deference.
“But when Qatari officials chose to remove an Israeli flag from outside an aquatic center during a swimming tournament earlier this week, the ADL showed no such deference, condemning them out of hand for the decision.”
Well, of course. It’s be hard to scam up outrage (and donation $$$) from the ADL’s contributors by taking a principled stand regarding Native Americans. But some silly slight in the ME that hurts no one, well, that fills the coffers…
I guess it all depends on context. Howard Stern regularly did bits about Norman Jewison (I think) who he said might as well be named “Kikey Kikestein” but Howard is also supportive of Zionism on the whole (he spoke of nuking some random Arab country on 9/11) so he gets quite a bit of leeway.
In a related note, the other night Stephen Colbert did a bit about who would win between a lion and a tiger. He observed that they can call each other “Tigger,” but *you* can’t.
xD
Wow.
Shocking. Odious. Infantile. Unprofessional. Disgusting.
But if it works, it will set a much-needed, if long overdue and, however revolting, a precedent.
Just wondering here: is Redskins more offensive than “Braves” or “Indians”? Do they all need to go? Seminoles apparently okay, the tribe says.