This is the first I’ve heard of it, but here’s one of his infamous quotes:
"There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews.
I mean, there’s always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason.”
His other quotes tend to be condemnation about specifically Israeli zionism and barbaric murder, but i don’t have context as to whether he’s referring to palestine or not. Some people might have more sympathy for these statements these days, but a lot of his other quotes have to do with Jews controlling money and media, less defensible prejudice.
secular jews call themselves a race?
There’s plenty of non-religious people who identify as Jewish, yes.
right. but the question was: according to secular jews, “Jewish” = “race”?
If not race, then what?
ethnic group
you can convert to judaism and literally become jewish, even though you weren’t born into a jewish family. setting aside all the shit going on in politics right now, you cannot “decide” to become a different race
“Jewish” can describe race, ethnicity, culture, nationality, religion, or any combination of the above, depending on who’s using the word and in what context.
in what context is jewish a race?
Since you seem to be hung on semantics, perhaps a definition is in order:
To the extent that “race” is even a real thing (I’m of the opinion that it’s not a useful or productive way to categorize people), many people do classify themselves and others using that terminology, for good or ill. It would generally be in the context of biological heritage (“bloodlines,” ew).
I wonder if @[email protected] would have something to add here.
I would personally prefer the word ‘ethnicity’ to ‘race.’ As far as I’m concerned, if you want to associate me with a race, it would be white. The problem is that a lot of white people don’t see it that way. See Elon Musk saying “you have said the actual truth” to the guy who said that Jews were oppressing white people. But I’m not going to let those people get their way. I’m white.
I have all of the same privileges that come with being white in America that every other white person has and I share in the shameful responsibility white people need to take for racism, both institutional and personal. I really don’t want to say I don’t benefit from that unfairness or share that burden because that wouldn’t be true.
So the terminally online could be considered a race with a certain perspective. Interesting.
(I don’t say this to diminish or reject the definition. I just find it interesting to think about.)
Though maybe as others point out, it might be an ethnicity?
really, it comes down to usage. science may not be able to pin down a “scientific” definition, and it absolutely is a construct–but isn’t everything that isn’t defined by a mathematical formula a “construct”?
so if we’re stuck with using terms like “race” whether they’re “real things” or not, then i think it’s important to distinguish how they’re used. i will not agree that “jewish” is a race in the same way that “african american” is a race, because although both groups face oppression, one of them is a choice, and the other isn’t
though it has to be said, that according to judaism, if your mother is a jew, then you are too, whether you want to be or not. i call bullshit on that
hi @[email protected] !