General Discussions

[Baggers]

I know about the background and stereotypes behind the Jewish community, what I dont understand is how a comment about being wealthy can be offensive. Its fact that Jewish people are generally wealthy because they are smart, hard working people. Its fact that the Jewish community stick together and help one another unlike what I have seen and experienced with many other communities which I won't mention specifically. I simply put these two facts I mentioned together and come up with the reason for Johhny's comment. Nothing malicious, nothing racist, merely pointing out that if the Jewish community get behind Sheezel and the Kangas, they could provide some serious input both from a business networking perspective and financially. My first impressions were that of a long bow being drawn. Perhaps nowadays, any mention or association of a community/people and a trait (for the want of a better term) is now stereotypical and hence offensive.

Understand where you're coming from, GTC old son. But the problem with stereotypes is they pigeon hole and reduce certain groups of people to strict behaviour patterns, which is unfair, naive, wrong and ignorant. I use the word 'ignorant' not in a condemning/critical way but more in a 'not knowing' sense.

There are sliding scales in just about every particular 'race rituals & traits', religions, genders, sexualities and so on. We tend to categorize according to the more fundamental or most rigid or popular understanding of these human groupings.

The best man at my wedding was Jewish. Most of my father's clients over 66 years as a landscape architect were Jewish. So yours truly has had a lot of direct connection with the Jewish community... all my life... and these people vary in many ways, just like Christians, Muslims, and agnostics and atheists! My best man loved his bacon, was not great with money, however he and is family did the Shabbat every Friday night and I was invited from time to time as the gentile - some Jews kinda look down on the gentile, most don't. Great feed. Beautiful ritual. But the conversation was just like any family on a Friday night, just like church going Christians after church on a Sunday (plenty don't go to church) or Muslim folks kneeling and praying toward Mecca 5 times per day...

When someone uttered not to long ago about 'privileged' white males many of us were up in arms as many of us aint privileged, though I do get the sweeping generalization that being born a white male has given us a head start on many other folks - a fact. Point is many of us didn't like being stereotyped in that way as we sure didn't feel privileged.

Most domestic violence is perpetrated by men, but many more men are not violent to their kids or significant other.

Another example relating to my own bigotry recently on this forum. I made a sweeping generalization about Neanderthals (the popularly regarded, denigrating stereotype) which David (DJC) quickly corrected and explained how sophisticated they were in some important respects.

I think it is a very positive thing that we take the time to get know people as individuals before making judgements based on 'popular' and conditioned stereotype judgements... and understand that there is a sliding scale of behaviour within these groups.