You Can’t Spin Away Ignorance

Jews cannot win when it comes to money: If we wait for that sale or clip coupons, we’re called cheap and greedy; if we choose to be indulgent, we’re called rich and elitist.

In the 21st century, I was hoping that we had evolved beyond these stereotypes. But then South Carolinian Republican Party officials Edwin Merwin, Jr., and Jim Ulmer came to the defense of their U.S. Senator Jim DeMint.

DeMint had been criticized for opposing congressional earmarks. In response, Merwin and Ulmer wrote in the newspaper, “The Times and Democrat”: “There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves.”

First: no such saying attributed to the Jews exists.  Second: Thank you, Republican officials, for reinforcing the stereotype of the penny-pinching Jew.

Merwin and Ulmer — I hope out of sheer ignorance — tapped into anti-Semitism to praise DeMint for rejecting earmarks and watching “our nation’s pennies” in an effort to preserve American wealth.

The two of them need to learn the history of Christian-Jewish relations before they put words to paper. In the Middle Ages, Jews were forced out of craft guilds by their Christian rivals. Since at that time Christians were forbidden by religious practice to charge interest to one another, Jews had little choice but to enter the banking system, mainly as petty lenders. To keep the European economy functioning, money had to be transferred and interest had to be charged; in a way, the Jewish people kept the economy from grinding to a halt.

But we paid a terrible price: the stereotype of being penny-pinching and greedy.

I learned about the this stereotype in Memphis as a boy. Some of my Jewish friends had pennies thrown at them in the halls, as their bigoted classmates called them  “greedy Jews.”

In response to criticism, Merwin and Ulmer attempted to spin their words as praise for the Jewish people’s efforts to better their lives.

Merwin and Ulmer, please don’t compliment us by dredging up our painful past. Your words only reinforce stereotypes, prejudice and bigotry. If we don’t learn our history and learn how to choose our words carefully, then my grandchildren just may get pennies thrown at them — or even worse.