[WikiEN-l] Category:Jews -> Category:Jewsih people

[Ray Saintonge]

jayjg wrote:

>On 2/8/07, Steve Bennett <stevagewp at gmail.com> wrote:
>  
>
>>On 2/5/07, Cool Cat <wikipedia.kawaii.neko at gmail.com> wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2007_February_2#Category:Jews
>>>
>>>I proposed a rename as per wikipedias categorization scheme, we add "people"
>>>to any ethnicity. There appears to be a number of panic "oppose" votes. What
>>>do you think?
>>>      
>>>
>>For what it's worth, I do find the formulations "Jews", "American
>>Jews" etc rather awkward and find they have unfortunate connotations.
>>    
>>
>"It is widely recognized that the attributive use of the noun Jew, in
>phrases such as 'Jew lawyer' or 'Jew ethics', is both vulgar and
>highly offensive. In such contexts Jewish is the only acceptable
>possibility. Some people, however, have become so wary of this
>construction that they have extended the stigma to any use of Jew as a
>noun, a practice that carries risks of its own. In a sentence such as
>'There are now several Jews on the council', which is unobjectionable,
>the substitution of a circumlocution like Jewish people or persons of
>Jewish background may in itself cause offense for seeming to imply
>that Jew has a negative connotation when used as a noun."
>
> The American Heritage(r) Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth
>Edition.  2000.
>
>"Jew" is not a dirty word.
>
Excellent analysis.  There are still some situations where Jew might be 
used attributively, like "jewfish", but these are mostly uncommon, and 
in a context which would be recognized by those concerned.  Using "Jew" 
to refer to an ethnicity is dangerous.  That practice has allowed 
certain governments to call anyone with a Jewish great-grandparent a 
Jew, even if the person has left the Jewish community and converted to 
some other faith.

Devising politically correct euphemisms often only serves to exacerbate 
the problem.

Ec