Is comedian Jackie Mason “such a relic that he doesn’t fully understand the implications of his own vernacular?” said Cheryl Taragin in the Examiner.com. During a recent performance, Mason called President Obama a “schvartze,” which is Yiddish for black. This is unacceptable. “Like blackface and other hurtful stereotypes, certain references are layered in hateful nuances and preconceived notions.”
This isn’t the first time Mason has come under attack for using that word, said Eric Fingerhut in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Twenty years ago, Mason “got in trouble” when he referred to then–New York mayoral candidate David Dinkins as a “fancy schvartze with a mustache.” And “not to make excuses for Mason,” but much of his “act for decades has involved making fun of various ethnic groups.”
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