Until his recent downfall, Eliot Spitzer was one of America's most prominent Jewish politicians. Yet his Jewishness has been almost completely absent from the public debate occasioned by his disgrace and resignation. Pundits haven't been pontificating about the implications of Spitzer's downfall for the future of Jewish participation in politics. No one of any consequence has claimed that his misdeeds reflect badly on Jews as a group. And Spitzer himself hasn't tried to "play the anti-Semitism card" by claiming that the feds targeted him because he is Jewish. To paraphrase Sherlock Holmes, the absence of anti-Semitism from the discussion of Spitzer is a crucial dog that didn't bark.
The lack of focus on Spitzer's Jewishness is all to the good. It shows that both the political elite and the general public broadly accept the role of Jews in public life and that anti-Semitism has largely been marginalized in mainstream political discourse. That marginalization, in turn, helps ensure that Jews are unlikely to rally to a Jewish public figure accused of wrongdoing if he makes unsubstantiated claims of being a victim of anti-Semitism. That may be one of the reasons why Spitzer didn't try to use anti-Semitism as a defense. Obviously, anti-Semitism hasn't disappeared in America. But it has been reduced to relative insignificance.
Unfortunately, however, we haven't advanced quite as far with respect to some other minority groups. Had an equally prominent black or Hispanic politician landed in the same kind of fix as Spitzer, it is highly likely that his race would be a major part of the discussion. Pundits would grouse about the implications of the scandal for black leaders more generally. And the politician himself might well play the race card in order to defend himself. The reasons for this are understandable. We have not overcome racism and its legacy to the same degree as we have with anti-Semitism. As a result, public discourse focuses on race far more than on Jewish-gentile differences. And blacks are understandably more suspicious of efforts to prosecute the alleged misdeeds of black leaders than Jews are of similar efforts with respect to Jewish ones.
However, the Spitzer case does offer a measure of hope. If this scandal had occurred just a few decades ago, Spitzer's Jewishness would have been a much larger part of the discussion, and that discussion would have been vastly more poisonous. In time, we may be able to achieve the same sort of progress in race relations. As flawed as they are, race relations today are still much better than twenty or thirty years ago. In time, if we are lucky, a public figure's race might become just as insignificant as Spitzer's Jewishness is today.
Related Posts (on one page):
- Jews, Blacks, and Political Power:
- Eliot Spitzer and Anti-Semitism - The Dog that Didn't Bark:
- It's the Sex, Stupid:
An antisemitism defense would have gotten more traction a few decades ago? What makes you think that?
And how could you possibly know that had Spitzer been black, he would defend himself with the race card?
This is nothing but speculation without substance. You owe me four minutes of my life back.
"He lives at the perfect address (Fifth Avenue and 79th St.) with his perfect Harvard Law School-educated Southern Baptist wife — whose parents must be telling her they told her so right about now — and their three perfect daughters." . . .
" Dudley Do-Right is on tape in a white-knuckle negotiation with pimps about payment for a prostitute. (Let's just be thankful that there's no anti-Semitic expression for Jews haggling about money.)"
Since these comments appeared in an Ann Coulter column, your comment that anti-Semitism "has been reduced to relative insignificance" still holds true.
As a testament to the "dog that didn't bark," I didn't even know Spitzer was a Jew.
It's pretty cool that someone's being a Jew is a non-issue for most of the public.
Check it out some more. The Mayor of Detroit has indeed made race an issue in his defense, although I think this will be a tough sell when all of the principals in the story are Black as is over 80% of the city's population.
Kinda hard to figure out how the KKK is behind all of his problems.
Being Jewish is a lot different than other ethnic/racial groups in that it is not obvious that most American Jews are Jewish just by looking at them, the way it is usually obvious that someone is white, asian, black etc.
With the mayor of Detroit I saw his picture on the story that appeared on Drudge a few days back and was able to tell he was black just by looking at the picture, besides the fact in the story he claims the attacks on him are racist because he is black.
She seems to be a tough, intelligent woman: a Harvard Law-educated corporate lawyer at Skadden. Though it does seem she might be more religious than he, based on the fact that her religion is getting mentioned in these recent news articles while his isn't, it seems to be mentioned to cast her in the role of a Southern evangelical who couldn't control her man in big urbane New York. I'd instead argue that it's really hard for one person to prevent another from acting like a jerk (to use far too benign language).
Still, no one could shut up about Romney being a Mormon, so we still have some ways to go.
And I second Paul B., race has definitely been a big issue with Kilpatrick. Recently and throughout his entire term.
Racism won't die until BOTH sides allow it to. When one side is benefitting from it (even if only in the short term, and primarily for certain leaders), well, that makes it hard to let go.
Perhaps, there is some truth to David Irving's comment, that it is "payback time for a moser"?
Blacks and Hispanics have a much higher crime rate than Jews. American blacks are about 6% of the population yet they are at least 40% of the prison inmates. Data from the National Crime Victimization survey also shows that blacks and Hispanics commit crimes far out of proportion to their fraction of the population. Whenever a prominent black or Hispanic gets caught it plays into the stereotype. Look at the Wesley Snipes tax evasion case. He certainly played the race card in this one.
With this kind of behavior is it any wonder that race enters into the discussion. Compare and contrast to Jew who get caught.
Well, sure they acknowledge him, even if he didn't acknowledge them. The Greek-American community is proud of Jennifer Aniston, though few others would realize she had Greek ancestry.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/123035
Yeah, but no real superstar criminals...Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky, Abe Reles...
Did Dershowitz jump to the defense of Spitzer because they both have Harvard ties, they are both democrats, or what?
Dershowitz quote from March 13 Huffington Post:
"In fact, while we are regularly among the first to identify and combat any sort of injustice or bigotry against other groups, many Jews are reluctant to stand up and make a fuss in our own self-defense."
Sure, play the victimized Christian card in a thread about Jews. :)
I assure you, my criticism of religion is equal opportunity. For example, I don't know what yours religion is, but if you have one, I'm pretty sure it has a number of unbelievably silly characteristics.
Given his apparent preference for...um...less safe modes of intimacy, this is an unlikely defense.
license fiasco) is itself anti-Semitic, since many of
today's immigrants themselves have high degrees of anti-Semitism. I would not defend Spitzer just because he is Jewish, but the fact that his political views work
against Jewish interests doesn't help.
Of course, mass immigration without assimilation is
also anti-American. The American tradition of assimilation,
and underlying rejection of racial/ethnic/religious preferences minimized traditional
anti-Semitism beginning in the 1950s. Unfortunately, today's immigrants with demands, demands, demands for bilingual education, racial preferences and endless fussing over their identity is destroying the momentum of assimilation. Spitzer and most Democrats (and many Republicans) are directly responsible for this.
You must be new here.
And that identify what he was thinking with.
Well, I don't think I'm new here, all things considered. But I should have said, "among the most" rather than "the most."
I hope that is not what Sbron is saying. To truly not be anti-semite one must also be for the Kyoto treaty (Israel has coastline too), be against the Iraq war and for bombing Iran, oppose letting the Bush tax cuts expire, be for a foreclosure moratorium (lots of Jewish homeowners), be against a foreclosure moratorium (lots of Jewish bankers too).
Actually, the man has an uncanny resemblance to Dick Dastardly.
Sorry, I was aiming for +5 Funny, not Insightful.
I must say that in the absence of any religious content, obsessing about anti-Semitism seems to be one of the few core beliefs of non-Orthodox Jews. During the 2000 election, the local Jewish weekly here in the Bay Area could not publish a weekly issue without an article about what having a Jewish vice-presidential candidate on one of the major party tickets meant. As best I can tell, the non-Jewish voters cared less about this.
Sorry, I was aiming for +5 Funny, not Insightful.
Would've been more funny if you hadn't "must be new here"-d a Conspirator. But I got a meta-laugh out of that!
I think it's funnier to "must be new here" a Conspirator. But I still haven't been modded up, so maybe not.
Ambiguous whether you mean "ethnically of Jewish ancestry" or "observant follower of Judaism". If the latter, then it would be comparable. If Spitzer had been an ultra-Orthodox who refused to shake hands with possibly menstruating women (etc), then his downfall would have some analogy with Swaggart and Haggard.
I, too, didn't pick him as Jewish previously. If pressed, woulda guessed "German surname, ie ethnically German". Of course, for those more familiar with eastern European Jews, some names in German are "Jewish" and others are "native German". As someone once patiently explained to me: "sitting" and "bull" are English words, but "Sitting Bull" is not an Englishman's name.
"My house of worship contains fewer graven images than does your house of worship! Nya nya!"
And the fact that Coulter & Dershowitz HAVE "barked" a bit about this is probably confirmation of it's marginality.
On the other hand, there has been some exasperation about an Israeli or two — a few hours after the initial annoucement —
Israeli twist in Spitzer scandal
Ron Kampeas Published: 03/10/2008
A fast-rising Democratic governor, an out-of-control sex drive and an Israeli enabler — it feels like deja vu all over again on the Hudson.
http://tinyurl.com/3xlac9
That's ok. Sbron works for the Hillary Clinton campaign. They don't need no stinkin' logic.
Her birth last name is "Youmans" and her nose seems to indicate she also has Jewish heritage.
I don't have any social science study to back me up. But there seems to be a tendency for men who "marry outside" to handle their mid-life crisis by straying "back to the root," base on personal observation.
One possible reason for the misconception -- Orthodox couples do not touch one another during the wife's period because intimimicy is prohibited during that time, and one thing can easily lead to another. (Strictly Orthodox couples do not touch in public at any time, so as not to advertise whether or not the wife is then having her period.) The reason, though, is so as not to create a temptation to illicit intimate contact. Since extra marital intimacy is always illicit, contact between the sexes is limited to one's spouse (in private, as above), parents or children.
If it's any consolation, I laughed out loud.
Unfortunately for this thesis, the surname "Youmans" has British origins, as a variant of "Yeomans". Googling shows Youmans are commonly Southerners and Baptists, suggesting that men who "marry outside" handle their mid-life crisis by straying back to younger versions of their current wives.
Is there some stereotype that Jewish men are unfaithful? I hadn't heard that one. Adulterous politicians are not restricted to one religion; both Jewish governors and Baptist presidents do it. Maybe if Spitzer were doing something more stereotypically Jewish you would get more Jewish jokes.
As far as the country putting the bad old past behind us as far as religous bigotry, didn't the Mormon just get crucified?
I think the opposite is true of what was originally posted; critisizing someone's religion is much more acceptable that critisizing their race. Spitzer just got a pass because philandering has nothing to do with his religion. If he was running for President, you can bet his religion would be an issue.
The one that occurs to me is a play on his name: Eliot Schvitzer--because that's what he's doing about now.
As a NYer, I've always known Spitzer is jewish, but never really had a sense for whether he is observant. Truth be told, I've probably seen more pictures of Rudy Giuliani wearing a yarmulke, than Spitzer. For all I know, Spitzer is non-religious.
In NY, the "jewish angle" to this story is basically a non-issue. The last remaining pocket of overt anti-semitism is not one that liberal Democrats care to acknowledge, much less address.
MarkField and I agree on very little--we do here. I also laughed out loud. Touche.
In my youth, the Jewishness of those involved in scandals was cited only to show that the mafia was an equal opportunity employer -- Allen Dorfman of the Central States Teamster Pension Fund, Teamster father-and-son executives Bill and Jackie Presser, etc.
Nick
http://www.amny.com/news/local/am-kids0312,0,1434668.story
He is only a "Jew" in the Nazi racialist sense, although his parent's emphasis on education and success were echoes of their former Jewish culture.
2. Dershowitz sprang to Spitzer's defense because he has a close personal relationship, not because they are landsmen. Spitzer worked for Dershowitz in law school helping on the von Bulow case. His character appears in the movie as a female.
3. Anti-Semitism is not the full time obsession in the US that it was/is say in Russia or other parts of Europe. In the US blacks have always played the major role as the "other". While there have been periods of mild anti-semitism in the US, the total body count for all of US history is extremely low, vs. millions in Europe. While there still hasn't been a Jewish president, there are lots of Jewish congressmen, senators, etc. and nobody seems to think twice about it anymore. As the others have mentioned, the fact that Jews are not immediately identifiable by appearance in our very mixed race society helps (plus most Americans don't have the finely tuned Jewdar that say Russians have - they don't care if you are Jewish so they don't hunt your face or name for clues in most cases). Some voters might be aware that Spitzer was Jewish or Cuomo Italian or Dukakis Greek but it doesn't really influence their decision one way or the other, especially in a state like NY.