110 Comments

• Get your facts straight

  Shvartzah is Shvartz Yiddish term for BLACK.
  Until black individuals are furious about their own race calling each other the “n” word I will continue to use the word Shvartze for black.

  • Get YOUR facts straight

    when was the word shvartzah not used as a racial slur?? get off your high horse and recognize that it is wrong and you might as well use the n word instead. by all means people should be arrested for calling a black person a shvartzah just like they would calling us dirty jews.

  • Depends in what context

    re : Get YOUR facts straight wrote:
    “when was the word shvartzah not used as a racial slur??…..” ,,,are you kidding ? how about the last time a Yiddishe speaking person went into a store and wanted to buy a black suit ,

  • re: Depends in what context wrote:

    Let me rephrase that because you obviously missed the point.

    When was the TITLE shvartzah not used in a racial reference? The fact is when used its meant not to say nigger which is just as bad and people should be arrested for using it. Just because they might not understand the reference does not make it right to say. Last thing someone needs is a black person who knows what it really means in when its said in reference to them.

  • Milhouse

    What?! People should be arrested for using a word?! What country do you think this is? Nazi Germany?! This is America, where we have the right to say anything we like without fear of arrest. Including truly offensive words, let alone normal words that troublesome people choose to take offense at.

• To those who feel the need to use that word:

  The people who use that word are ignorant and the opposite of spiritual. If they claim to be Lubavitche, they are fooling themselves, for they do not at all live up to that standard. Shame on them.

  • Chaim Yankel

    Shvartz – Black

    Anyone who thinks that Shvartz – Black or Shvartze – Black person, means the “N” word, doesn’t speak Yiddish.

    There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the term Shvartze.

    Chip on your shoulder my friend.

• Pitiful!

  Sometimes the same people who use “Schvartze” are the same people who scream with anger and disgust when other people use “Kike”. Do they see the hypocrisy? Probably not, because they are so ignorant they can’t see beyond their own ignorant ideas. Pitiful! I am a Jew, and I have never thought of using the word “shvartze”. Not ever. I’m 66 years of age, and I’ve never come close! So, if folks who use that word in Crown Heights feel they have a lead on how to serve Hashem, I think they are sorely mistaken. Again, pitiful.

  • Milhouse

    You’re a liar. When’s the last time you heard anyone get angry over “kike”? When’s the last time you heard anyone use “kike”? You are simply making things up.

    That aside, there is no comparison between “shvartzer” and “kike”. “KIke”, has no meaning in English but an insult. It isn’t a word at all in Yiddish or Hebrew. “Shvartzer” is a normal word that, like “Jew”, can sometimes be used in a derogatory way, but is usually not.

    But I’m calling you out on your lie about people who use “shvartzer” get upset at “kike”. I don’t believe you have ever in your life seen this.

• mg

  i applaud you for coming out to create an awareness that we SHOULD BE more careful with the words we use – although it is said simply and without malice, we must be more careful what and how our words are said.

  that being said the term schwartze – despite what is being purported now is NOT a racist term, just like Italyener mean an italian, chinezer means a chinese, etc
  they are saying about a person the race – or other identifying characteristics one may have that easily identifies them – if one uses it as a racist term then THEY ARE racist not the word.

• 100% wrong

  Ich hob shvartzeh hor = I have black hair
  Very ridiculous article I grew up speaking Yiddish and shvartz the only way you can possibly say black.

• larry

  so how do I tell my kid in Yiddish please past this to the ——— person

  • Huh?

    You don’t. Would you say please pass this to the white person?

  • Citizen Berel

    Would a white person self-identify as a white person. No he would not. (I am a giver)

    Do black people self-identify as a black people? Yes they do. (No need to thank me)

    You are living in a fantasy world, where black people wish nothing more than to treated like a regular people no different than anyone else. Judged on the content of their character.

    This is not the world we live in, and that is not what they are asking for. They want you to respect the BLACK man. But what if you don’t? Do you pretend?

• Unknown

  What kind of business is this?! That’s horrible!

• sorry but not true

  there is no other word in yiddish to describe a shvartze. In russia many people were called that way. chaskel der shvartze ( as he had a back beard) chaskel der vaisa and chaskel der gella ( as he had a blond beard). I use the name shvartze because there is no other yiddish name for them. If it happens to be that a shvartze stole my bike then yes I will say a shvartze stole my bike. how is someone that only speaks yiddish supposed to call a black person.

• in your case at least you know the reason

  Don’t you know that prejudices exist in everything? At least in your case it’s (excuse the expression) black on white. Of course you see and feel your discomfort, pain, injustice etc. You are therefore not aware that this exists over and over in a variety of ways.
  For the ffb vs b.t. For the children of a divorce. For the “gedze vs. non “gedze” – For the thin vs. heavy. for the stunning vs. struggling to look good, for the rich vs. poor………on and on goeth the prejudices.
  Sadly you certainly are not alone.

  If we could tackle this issue we would hasten Moshiach’s arrival – Hopefully Moshiach will arrive [he may be black – who knows :-) ] and all this will be (at worst) a memory.
  Be a good Yid that is what Hashem wants of you. Definitely being b’simcha helps!
  As for having the courage to write this – as they say down under “good on ya mate!”.

• Be quite.

  I am getting fed up of Bal Teshuvas coming into our community and telling us what we can and cannot say.
  I have been using the word “shvartze” my whole life, it does not mean “nigger”, it means BLACK. Shvartze kasha means black kasher, not nigger kasher.
  It happens to be that all of the people stealing bikes in this neighborhood are black, hence shvartze’s. ditto the welfare recipients in this neighborhood. If they were white, we would be calling them veiser.
  I have never had a shvartze do my taxes, only steal them.
  I use the word shvartze, I will continue to use it, and no newcomer is going to remove a word from the Yiddish lexicon that dates back hundreds of years because it offends some American liberal sensibilities. What are you going to challenge next, bris mila? shechita?

  • Your a racist

    Stop labeling…

    time to think to yourself about the authors point, look in the mirror.

  • Citizen Berel

    Promptly vacating your lawn!

  • Mottel

    “I have never had a shvartze do my taxes, only steal them.”

    Because no Jews in Crown Heights are on benefits, and especially not illegally.

  • You're a walking Chillul H"S!

    How dare you refer to “ba’al teshuvahs” like that?! Disgusting! H”S is watching you, and He will judge! Better apologize QUICK, because Y”K is closer than you think!

  • Just a random Joe

    go write pa’an and tell the Rebbe that you would like to kick the ba’al tshuvah’s out of crown heights whom he dedicated his entire life into bringing here.

  • Lol

    Avraham avinu and , Moshe Rabanu were bt , would you like to tell them to leave cause they were once the Newcomer?????

  • YMSP

    Maybe if people would think twice about the harm and hurt they cause people, fellow yidden (like the writer of the op-ed) by using a word, maybe they wouldn’t use it just for that reason.

    You can write that when you use it you don’t mean it as an insult (not sure if I’d believe you though), but if the word hurts people and makes people feel hurt, why use it?

    If it takes someone who’s newly awakened their neshomo to Torah and mitzvos to point that out, then why not thank them for it too instead of cursing them out?

• Citizen Berel

  (Edited)

  When you write things about things you write on your face…

  Right before I couldn’t take it anymore I saw the comment worthy — “Shvartze isn’t Yiddish for Black. Shvartze is Yiddish for Nigger.” — and decided to share.

  Shvartze isn’t Yiddish for any particular English word cause Yiddish wasn’t made up to translate English words one one to one basis. That just isn’t how language works.

  No, whatever meaning nigger has beyond its now outdated technical meaning is a reflection of the intent of those who use and used the word. And we Jews never looked at and do not look at shvartzes with anything akin to the animosity harbored by the original and current users of nigger. I don’t even own a whip.

  We don’t think very highly of the black people as a black people. Because, the black people as a black people are not in anyway admirable (for whatever reason).

  If black people would demand to be considered people-not-black and to be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, they would have Citizen Berel’s committed sympathy.

  But that’s not what they want. They want to be respected as a BLACK people. Every single argument for respecting black people is based on their being people like all other people. And that principle is powerful and inarguable and along the lines with what the author is saying.

  And it was that argument that earned them the tremendous force of good will that culminated in the civil rights movement.

  But so long as they self identify by the color of their skin, then they are shvartzes. Not niggars and not black men and not African Americans.

  • informed

    nice comment

• Resident

  ….except that being Jewish is not considered to be ‘an external quality’. It doesn’t matter what color you are, if you have a Jewish neshama, that’s what your essence truly is.

• mendoza

  BUT ITS OK TO HAVE A NAME LIKE
  SCHWARZENEGGER ?
  WHICH MEANS BLACK NEGRO IN GERMAN

• correction

  I agree the word is wrong. You are 100% correct there. I have a correction in the grammatical usage though.
  Shvartze is a noun. He is a shvartze.
  Shvartz is an adjective. He is shvartz.
  Shvartze can also be used as an adj but only if followed by a noun. A Shvartze man.
  You can’t say “he is shvartze” or he is a “shvartz” preident.

• Thank you!

  When my son first went to Cheder, he came home saying shMartzeh, because we don’t use that word at home…. It upset me. I grew up in CH and refuse to use the word. He goes to a good cheder and didn’t come home using the f work, but shvartzeh was ok, because its acceptable.
  Its commonly used because 99% of violent crime in CH is perpetrated by… blacks. The fallout from that trauma is to brand the perpetrator as ‘other’; hence the word shvartzeh.
  I’m not sure what the solution is. The situation is unique. Most middle class families move away from the ‘hood’.
  One thing is certain; if violent crime went away the word shvartzeh would follow.

• "yiddish geret"

  with all due respect to the author, i could certainly appreciate to some extent what he goes thru, being a large sized big-bearded jew who travels a lot always getting stared at and the recipient of an occasional derogatory comment etc. and i am sure that if i were half black it would prob be worse…..however, how does the author propose saying “black” in yiddish?

  as both a yiddish and english speaker, im not sure how else to say, “a shvartze stole my bike;”? is saying “a black man stole my bike;” better?

  if one says, “be carefull of that jewish ganev” is that any better or worse then saying “be careful of that schvartze ganev”? or “vaiseh ganev”?

  sure, words can be used in a derogatory (or sometimes seemingly derogatory) fashion, such as “don’t JEW me” or “WHITE trash” or “i am scared to let my wife go for a walk at night because she may be knocked out by a SCHVARTZEH” but they can also be used to say ” i have complete trust in my schvartzeh cleaning lady, much more then my previous spanisher”

  do you expect ppl that ONLY speak yiddish to switch to english every time they want to say the word “black”?

  i challenge the author and readers of this comment to come up with a word in yiddish that describes a black person (and the color black) without using “schvartz” (“tinkul” in yiddish means dark, so that wont work)

  signed by a “vaiseh” local non racist jew

• Thank You!

  I do not consider myself racist. As a matter of fact, I cringe when people use the N word and when people make racial jokes and/or comments.

  However, I never really understood the issue with the word shvartze and have commonly used it. And you are right, never in the context of ‘My shvartze neighbor is such a mentch’.

  So, thank you! Thanks for the awareness. I commit to making an effore to stop using that word.

• no one special

  “Civilized” Society has many wonderful adjectives for people whom they consider inferior. Goy, Chink, Whitey, Mick, Guinie, Jew/Yid and more.
  There is no positive goal from using any of these words.
  On some level I feel your pain and recognize your anger. The sad part is that words are usually learned from parents who truly see “others: as inferior.

• sorry man

  while i understand that its a sensitive issue for you.

  let me just tell you-
  a) in translation its Black
  b) Most crime does happen in Crown Heights that a black stole man stole from the jewish man, i don’t remember the last time that a jew stole something from a black.
  c) while you try to make a emotional & philosophical point, HERE IS A FACT we are called almost daily Rednecks ‘jewboy’ and all other kinds of Racist words.
  We have been the victims and not the Blacks:
  Punching us – cause its just Fun.
  Steel – Because Jews have money, and why not? everything is free?!
  Rape –
  Violence
  Murder

  AND WHAT DO WE DO? AT WORST CALL THEM A SCHVERTZE (BLACK)?!

  • Got news...

    The Jews are stealing from the Blacks in Crown Heights, but they don’t do it in an outward way the way the Blacks do. No, when Jews commit crimes, we do it in a sneaky way. Getting ourselves on welfare when we don’t really need it. Committing massive white-collar crimes, bankrupting thousands and rendering all of our employees jobless, but serving 6 months in a place less like a prison and more like a country club to pay for it. And need I remind you, the last time a little Jewish boy was chopped into pieces and put in a freezer, it was a Jew that did it. So why don’t you take that camera lens of yours and point it back at yourself?

  • M

    Got news. Really?

• no one special

  @ # 17. Your comments are part of the problem. Aside from displaying spurious reasoning they are “pilpul” to devalue the man’s experience & perception.

• sorry but not true

  shvartze was used before the word nigger even existed

• liars

  for all you backwards thinkers out there, answer this question to yourselves:

  if your son or daughter came home and told you that they had an offer for a shidduch with a “shvartze” (nothing wrong with that) guy or girl, what would your response be?

  so yes, you are a hypocrite and a liar.

  • Milhouse

    Well, what do you think the response would be? What do you think it should be? You assume a response, and you don’t even say what your assumption is, let alone check whether it’s true, so how can you conclude anything?

  • Lol

    I would be okay with it if he/she was a MENTCH….. But many seem to be unmentchlich…..

• Rivkah

  Stupid/lazy/uneducated [pick 1] ppl must boil everything down to the least common denominator so they can more easily deal with it. That’s why they call names. Please cherish your diversity, there are those who do and those who don’t.

• Real talk...

  I’ve only read opinions until now. I will try to leave off at least a fact. Your code or ‘genes’, are stronger then any one of these community goers. If and when people will die out of their blindness, they will understand. We have become a mere physical being in this world, the Jew in Crown Heights too, has fallen so low as to forget what matters and follows their eyes. You are a walking goldmine for reproduction, genetically that is. Generally the populace of melanin full skin (which is simply the biggest organ in the body), is well to do. Better food is not the only advantage middle eastern people have. I have met quiet a few people of cross genetic code in my life and am simply amazed. Crown Heights specifically has begun to spring with many Jews of Sephardi, Asian, African, Latin & Islander descents, which is marvelous. Forgive me for my two cents, but this is one of the biggest stepping stones in its age for hasidic jewry. I myself am of Middle Eastern descent, but must share with you a discussion I had with a Ashkenazi father. Simply put, they tend to carry a lot of disease, from ta-sacs to g-d forbid….. I have friends who by their choice only wanted out of European descent marriages for their children, simply for the fact that it more guaranteed health. They have beautiful children. I can even say jaw dropping, from a few woman that looked at them. Feel strong, and feel what counts… Put emotions aside my friend, for these are only weakness. Strength of character goes a long way. And remember affiliation with the Crown Heights community is not the best thing to be proud of. Reassess, adapt and over come. Good day to you.

  P.S. Yiddish is a language that was generated by the Jewish populace out of oppression. It is a direct result of being treated like vermin, so the world goes round. They forgot how their grandparents looked in their final moments… not too well to say the least. Sorry for my lack of sensitivity on the topic, but apparently something needed to be brought to the table. Good day to you.

  • Citizen Berel

    I award you the Citizen Berel Special Comment award.

    It is a jaw dropping achievement.

  • Real talk...

    To citizen Berel… Something tells me that I have met you before, or even know you personally but the cyber worlds animosity is keeping us from refraining our identities to each other.
    I thank you for the award and commend you to one myself. By chance, are you BH ?

• Yossi Serebryanski

  Thank you for sharing this very powerful personal testimony.
  You speak a truth of the human condition, Tribalism.
  This is an issue that the Jewish community struggles and has struggled with since the industrial urbanization.
  A quick walk around the Ohel will show the many landsmanshaf – Jewish mutual benefit societies that gave NYC Jews their very identity.
  Lubavitch itself in 1950 had the distinctive three groups Russian, Polish, and American Chasidim. It is hard to imagine today that the Rebbe ZY”A asked an elder Russian chosid to devote himself to helping the russian bochrim find shiduchim, because the American girls did not want to date them!
  When the Rebbe welcomed Frum By Choice into the chasidus with open arms, some FFB chasidim were not as welcoming of the “BT’s” … Just ask the older FBC members of the community or their children who had to live through OT and ULY how the term BT was used as an epithet.
  If you are still reading please take this test.
  Ask yourself, would you rather do a shiduch with a blond hair blue eye Jew by choice, or a FFB Jew of African heritage. It’s OK to admit that this question troubles you…
  Now take that sensitivity, and please cut the word SHVARTZE out of your vocabulary, this brave person has now told you that it makes him feel like OTHER and an outsider, so to fulfill the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel in a very easy way just stop using this word..

  Note to CHI editors.
  It is a disaster that you have unnamed comments on your site. Please implement a policy that all comments must be linked to a email or facebook account. Just a quick read of the comments so far would lead any clear thinking person to conclude that if people had to use their names they may have written differently.

  • Citizen Berel

    “The comments so far would lead any clear thinking person to conclude that if people had to use their names they may have written differently.”

    That is correct. That is why I write under a pseudonym because everything you write is on a disk somewhere and can and will be used against you.

    Saying things you want to say because you wont be punished by man for saying it bothers only tyrants and fools and people who pride themselves spouting inanities associated with their name but I repeat myself.

• I think it's actually respectful

  I’m concerned that my kids are now using the term nigger. Shvartze is black in Yiddish and they are black. It’s not too deep so why look deep??!!

• M

  This is a trivial matter. It should matter if most black folks speak Yiddish, but they don’t. So why would one care what they are being called if they don’t know the language.

• Andrea Schonberger

  Is schvartze the same as using goy/goyim? Some people say it’s a dirty word too. I say goy/goyim and I was told once that it was a bad word to use.

• Moshe

  Would it offend you if say refer to a person with darker skin complexion a Nisht Vaiser (non white).

• Jim M.

  Mr. Shver, all I care to say is: hak mir nisht keyn tshaynic. Translate THAT.

• From Tsfat

  Yossi Serebryanski , very well said. The point is the connotation which is most of the time negative. If you walked by another non-jewish person who said the word ‘heeb’ or another nickname for Jews how would you feel. Did the Rebbe ever say Shvartze? Don’t think so. It’s grub and causes more hatred, racism and eventually Chilul Hashem.

• rivki

  i am israeli sfradi and i have been called shvartza and franka

  • Real talk...

    It is usually jealousy and self hate of pale skin which initiates such comments. Especially from the age of puberty and on, where they start really opening their eyes to the physical world.

• Granfather

  My grandfather spoke only yiddish to us and used Shvartze and sometimes N***** when needed (there were differences) :)

• Be honest with yourself....

  Yes, the word translates into “black”. That is not the point ! More to the point is why someone would have a need to use the word to generalize a host of negative characteristics that the word can connote. It has come to be a word that very often represents some kind of negative. That is insulting, bigoted, and ignorant ! Now, if someone uses the word to describe their hair, etc. , then that’s different. But the author was not referring to that. You should know from being a Jew that there’s a difference between being called a Jew by people who understand the beauty in that vs. being called that by people who have stereotypes depicting any number of insulting connotations. No one said anyone should never use the word; however, we shouldn’t use the word from an ignorant vantage point ! It’s a sensitive issue! Please understand that.

• To #35 -

  Yes, sometimes. There are times when it’s hard for me to understand what the need is for referring to color at all. Why? Why does someone on the sidewalk need to say, “That Jew was walking across the street without watching where he was going, and that’s why he fell into the crack in the street.” Why not just , “He was walking across he street without looking, and he fell into the crack.” Who cares what background, race, color, religion, etc. fell into the crack ? Why do some people need to voice that vocabulary? It makes no sense to me.

• To #21

  Thank you, thank you. It’s people like you who make me feel a little better about things. I really appreciate your message.

• Meanings change

  Two points:
  The word shvartzer USED to mean dark-haired, but NOWADAYS “the shvartze stole my bike” means the nigger stole my bike,” and it’s inappropriate, and hateful towards an entire race.
  Using that word in that context demeans the user most of all. You reduce a whole race to the color of their skin. Suppose your mother struggled with her weight. And suppose every time people spoke about your mother they just called her “the fat slob.” They ignore that she raised five beautiful children. They ignore that she has guests every Shabbos. They ignore that she volunteers at some worthy organization. All they see is that she carries extra weight and is a bit messy so therefore they’re “right” to call that woman “fat slob.”
  And going back to my first point, if you want to argue that the meaning of shvartzer hasn’t changed, then it’s a mitzva to be joyful. 100 years ago a common word for joyful was gay. From now on you should tell everyone you meet, “I’m a Gay Jew!!!” and not elaborate any further. Go on mivtzoim with your hat and jacket and loudly tell everyone you meet, “I’m a Gay Jew.”

  • Purim 5716

    Purim 5716 or 5717 the Rebbe Farbrenged at the GayHeart Hall. At the end of the Farbrengen the Rebbe wished the owner he should do everything Blev Sameach, someone asked the Rebbe what he means, so the Rebbe asked what the name of the hall was, and then translated into Hebrew: Belev Sameach.

• Motti

  #41 right on! Why do you need to say “that black guy” stole my bike? How about ” some guy stole my bike”? If you’re describing it to the police fine say he had dark skin but otherwise it is irrelevant. Any more than saying some Jewish guy…

• Motti

  Further point: it takes courage to speak from the heart. It can’t be easy being black and Jewish in CH. I live out on shlichus, I cringe when my CH visitors speak about “the shwartzes”. There is a black Jewish girl in this town (mother white Jewish father black goy) B”H my kids haven’t even noticed she has a different colored skin. Why should they?
  After this guy took the courage to write, ask yourself – if you are white and Jewish and live in CH – if you really can understand his pain? The answer is no, you can’t. So just accept it and moderate your language. If nothing else it is a chillul hashem because the recipients find it offensive even if you don’t.

• We have a BLACK president

  …and the blacks are very proud of THAT fact. He is the first BLACK president….. Why does the world – and the American population make a point of that?

  I respect you tremendously for being black and Jewish and remaining frum. I imagine it is NOT easy at all. Anyone (old timers) remember the Coleman family from Crown and Utica – they were probably the first black Jewish family in CH and they started a minyan/shul in their house for Black Jews (and anyone else that came). Its never easy being different. Keep up your strength and try not to allow others to undermine you or make you feel vulnerable. Remember that who you are is special and if they were in your shoes…..
  We all have nisyonos – this is one of yours. May Hashem give you the koach to overcome your challenges.

  • M

    Bi-racial president.

    Is his black side more important than his white side?

    He was raised by his mother.

• To Berel

  Are you serious? Are you kidding ? “They” are not in any way admirable? “We” don’t think very highly of black people? It is so hard for me to even consider that you are a Jew! You sound ignorant, and you have NO idea how you are wrong! I don’t think of ANY people as one way, and I think if you heard someone make a horrible generalization like that about Jews, you would find it quite offensive. I live in a city where many “black” people live. Yes, there are issues. Yes, problems exist. But there are many, many beautiful black people around! Many! Maybe if you opened yourself to the possibility, you would learn something. But most of all, don’t be so ignorant as to voice a negative generalization about a whole people! It’s just wrong!

• jj

  i agree with 47

• Yehudah Elimelch

  Dude you are amazing! Thank you for being open and real with your feeling and thoughts. I am sure you speak for many JOCs who have experience that same thing and have the same thoughts. As a JOC it certainly rings true to me. How can we example unto the nations when we engage in hate? We Can’t! I think you captured the essence of what more than a few JOC face in communities of religious Jews. It is something that needs to be exposed and crushed! I totally get what you expressed and those who don’t are willful lying to themselves about the problem of race in Jewdom.

• Anonymous

  I LOVE BLACKS THERE ALWAYS NICE TO US LEBAVICHERS
  THERE THE BEST PPL. EVER

• To Citizen Berel

  Read #49. I agree. Please go to a learned, respected, educated rabbi and find out why you should check your attitudes. Your generalizations are offensive to me, and yes, I am a Jew. Just because you are too doesn’t mean you represent the better part of Jewish. A real, authentic Jew does not speak against a whole people. That is not the way of the Creator, the last I checked. When is the last time YOU checked?

• To Millhouse #3

  You didn’t get my point. And by the way, I HAVE heard the word kike, and yes black people cringed at the word, because they were fair-minded human beings with a heart that knew it was an ignorant and bigoted thing to say. No, kike is not a Yiddish word, of course. But schvartze CAN be used in a stereotypical way, and that is what I was referring to. There is no need to insert the color of one’s skin in a typical day’s events. THAT is the connotation I was referring to. Maybe, for some reason I could never understand, 75 years ago it was commonplace to insert the word in daily innocent references. It’s a different day, and now there is a different unspoken meaning to that word when used in reference to an African American citizen. I will NEVER dispute the Yiddish meaning of “schvartze”.That would be pointless and ridiculous. But I will ALWAYS dispute “schvartze” when used to refer to a person’s color for no reason other than to make it clear that it’s important for the speaker. Why, I don’t know. That is my feeling on the matter. You won’t change it, as I most likely will not change yours. May it be said that I am at peace with the fact that I do not need to voice stereotypes, so therefore I do not stereotype myself.

• The birds are chirping

  Next up on ep-ed lane:

  I am disgusted at what goes on in crown heights with everyone planing on ruling the world. Just the other day I overheard Joel Kahn scheming with Charlie Buttons about what to set the dollar at tomorrow! It is about time we stopped manipulating the markets and overthrowing governments. Let obama run the country without us telling him what we allow him to do and what we do not allow him.

• Thank you

  Thank you. I respect you. I appreciate your sensitive, intelligent thinking. Thank you from a Jew who is embarrassed by the insensitive, bigoted references to others. You are who we need for others to respect US. We do not need ignorant comments. That does not bring respect. So, thank you.

• admit to myself

  The first thing I ever did was to admit that I and everyone(yes everyone) has some sort of prejudice and once you are aware of it and admit it, then you can work on it.I have definitely used the word shvartze when I get angry at some crime I read about.I live in the south.So CH doesn’t mean much to me in terms of experiences there.However, after reading this man’s pain,I had to think about what he wrote and then tell myself “guilty as charged”. I want to change this and I want to work on not using the word because someone came forward and enlightened me.I am making this a goal for myself regardless whether someone knows if I stop using it.I will know.So yes,young man,you made a difference for me.

• Rivky

  TO NUMBER 18 – GRAMMAR RULES

  1. We say SHAVARTZER MAN or SHVARTE LADY. Note the R at the end.

  2. It is OK to say it as adjective without a noun after in correct Yiddish, like we say HE IS A GROISER, OR HE IS A KLAINER, OR HE IS A KLUGER, and we do not need to say a goiser man or a klainer man or a kluger man. The same way we can say he is a shvartzer or a greener or a geller, etc..

  And to add a few words about this generally –

  Of course we are all aware about the holy neshama that connects us all with Hashem and makes each of us so holy etc. and this has nothing at all – NOTHING AT ALL! – to do with skin color. We all remember of the time not too long ago when so many of our people were killed by white….. yemach shmam. And remember- A MILLION WHITE GOYIM CAN’T MAKE A MINYAN, BUT 10 BLACK JEWS CAN MAKE A MINYAN. AND WE MUST GIVE PROPER CARE AND RESPECT TO OUR BODY NO MATTER THE COLOR, AS IT IS THE CASE THAT HOLDS OUR HOLY NESHAMA. THE DIAMOND IS AS PRECIOUS IN A BLACK JEWELRY BOX AS IT IS IN A WHITE JEWELRY BOX. Would you think any less of the worth or beauty of a diamond gift dependent of the color of the box?

• Not quite

  It means black (not the N word).
  Next…!

• Nobody

  I refuse to use a term coined by Jesse “Hymietown” Jackson to refer to people, as if he has some authority on what is offensive or not.

  So, what are my options? How about “black”. Wait, how do I say that in Yiddish?

• CH

  Lets be honest. When we say shvartzer, we do not mean black as opposed to white. We say the shvartzer did this and that. We never say the vieser did this or that. No Jew has ever stolen a bike or a car or broken into a shvartzer home. Please. There is a difference and let’s not forget it.

• NoYechi770InJerusalem

  My zaide & father called schvartzers tunkeluch or finsterers.
  I heard Chaim Tashkenter,A”H call them negers (not the word with the I but the Yiddish word neger)

• R U Kidding?

  Listen, words can have dual meaning. If you’re speaking IN Yiddish, and you’re saying in a sentence, “Look, my hat is black!” obviously that’s fine. But if you’re referring to “the shvartzes”, I’m sorry, you’re not just using the word for them anymore. You’re not. It IS 100% racist. Because as the author points out, you never hear shvartzeh used in a sentence like, “Gee golly, the shvartzehs living up the street sure are lovely people!” You’re using it to refer to a group of people with a condescending air. And while we’re on the subject, stop using the word Goy. Gentiles, fine. Non-Jews, fine. But people use the word “goyishe” or “goy” or “goyim” to refer to things that are unwanted or disliked or abhorrent. And in this day and age, you have a lot of Jews from a lot of different backgrounds. My non-Jewish father, I didn’t become more religious to spite him. I love him, and he instilled in me morals and values that lead me to the Derech. And I am one of so, so many. If a word is used to insult people over and over, it becomes offensive. You know where the word “nigger” comes from? Negro. Know what that word refers to? The color black. Far as I know, just because “nigger” refers to a color, doesn’t make it an appropriate word to say.

  • Milhouse

    And now we see where this leads. First we have an “innocent” demand to stop saying “shvartzer”, and now comes the real agenda, to wipe out the difference between a yid and a goy. Yes, a goy is lower than a yid. That is a fact, and we must be aware of it. Every day we thank Hashem for not making us a goy. We say havdoloh every week, thanking Hashem for distinguishing us from them. Every morning we say that “the difference between a man and an animal is nothing [..] except for the holy neshomo”, which a yid has. And there are many halochos whose purpose is to create a barrier between us and them, to discourage us from fraternizing with them and from living among them. It doesn’t matter whether you like this or not, this is what the Torah teaches. Naturally there’s no need to be rude about it, there’s no need to rub their faces in it, but we must never pretend to ourselves that it isn’t true.

• Anne aka Chana Malka

  Ok so I read your letter and all the comments… Here’s mine…. I’m a 57 yr old women, white, born of two Jewish non religious parents. Six plus yrs ago I became a balis chuva, I am constantly making ” excuses” for being me…I dress accordingly, act sufficiently, carry myself well…. The ” issue” ? I do not wear a sheitle… I have two children, five grandchildren ” but” I’ve never been married to a Jewish man… No wedding ring… No sheitle… Oye the questions …. Now..
  What should I put on my forehead to tell the world what I am and what I am not?
  I am who I am… Like me or not, I’m ME. And Hashem loves me for me… No excuses… No nothings… I except me for me… I love me… So when someone looks at me differently… Says something I don’t like… Makes faces.
  That’s THEIR problem… Not mine…
  Hashem loves me, has patience with me, accepts me for who I am… That’s good for me….period….
  Love yourself… Accept yourself… Be who Hashem wants you to be…. Period…..

  • Milhouse

    If it bothers you you can always get a ring and/or a sheitel. There’s no law that says you can’t wear them if it makes you feel better.

• Anne aka Chana Malka

  Guys you really need to look at yourselves and ask why you’re so judgemental…..
  There are good and bad in every colour, every religion, every area of this world….
  Hashem makes it that way and we don’t ask why…
  It just is…
  When you walk by someone and need to outwardly make a comment…. Ask yourself first…
  What would Hashem want me to say or do ?
  Be true to Hashems word, not to your own..
  Just saying….

• Alright everyone

  Just wondering…..WHY IS EVERYONE TOTALLY MISSING THE POINT OF THE ARTICLE?!?!?! Seriously!!! This is not supposed to be an argument over whether shvartze means black or nigger! This is an article about not being racist, and you know what? As shown in this article, using the word shvartze can hurt someone deeply, no matter what it means. And to all you who think the word shvartze is not racist, then let me tell you: It does not matter what the word means, what matters is how it is used! If you call someone a shvartze in a mocking, racist, and mean way, then yes, it is racist! But if you call, for example, hair “shvartz”, then no, it is not racist! How would you like it if us Jews were called “dirty Jews”, etc. in public?! And yes, I’m sure there are anti-semites out there who say this, but more people call African-Americans “shvartzes” or “niggers” in public than Yidden being called “dirty” or “cheats”.

• MTL

  Funny. You guys all seem to be from Crown Heights. I grew up in California. As a child I was not frum & went to public school. Being probably the only Jewish kid there, I gravitated towards the Black and Hispanic kids as I had more in common with them than the white kids.
  Since then, I find that when one talks to another as a fellow human being, they will respond in kind. I have spoken with respect to Black people in CH and have had only good responses. I also have Black neighbors with whom I get along with. My children see this and they speak to ALL people with respect.
  Maybe that’s what is missing today (not only in CH).

• nonsense!

  There is nothing wrong with using the word Shvartze.
  I grew up in the 1960s-70s speaking Yiddish in our home and that was the word we used to refer to the color black, whether it was a black dress, a black yarmulka, black shoes…or very dark color eyes etc….We had lovely Black neighbors..yes black..who we chatted with across our porches all the time. Never did I ever think of the word Shvartze as a derogatory term. It’s part of the Yiddish-German language to describe a color. All this hoopla regarding the word “shvartze” being a an issue is due to the insane people who have nothing to do with their lives and need a cause to fight for and created the “being politically correct” forum. Nowadays, people have to walk on eggshells so they should’nt say something supposedly improper(that really isn’t) on the chance they might be fired…even comedians who make us laugh at our own craziness and those of other cultures have to tread carefully with their monologue. Enough of this nonsense!

• Anne aka Chana Malka

  I’m not from crown heights, I’m from upstate N.Y. and love the summers when everyone comes here… Just saying…

• What the Rebbe said

  I’m surprised that no one mentioned the famous Yechidus of the Rebbe with mayor Dinkins. In response to Dinkins statement that” your people and my people “, the Rebbe responded “We are one people under one G-d”. This should once and for all put the blatant and latent racism to rest. Decent and sophisticated people do not use the term”Shvartze”. In our home , which stems from Eastern Europe, this term was never used. If a reference to a black person had to be made to identify his color the word “tunkele” was used. Our parents understood back in the 50s already that this was a very derogatory term. How could they be racist after living through the hell of white Europe?

  • To # 79

    What about when Mayor Dinkins came to the Rebbe for dollars after the riots, and said he want to make piece, and the Rebbe stressed the word: BOTH sides!!

• Not racist

  i just want to say to all of the comments that are saying that shvartze means black – that is true, the literal meaning in yiddish of the word is black, however, the accepted meaning of the word has changed to where it is now used among jews as an insult to black people. a dictionary translates the word as “black”, so no one is saying u cannot continue to use the word when saying “my black hair”, or something like that, but when using the term on a black person, THAT IS RACIST.
  A perfect example of this – the word b***h literally means a female dog, correct? look in a dictionary and thats the translation. but the meaning has changed to where its a huge insult to call a woman that. would you refer to a female dog as a b***h just because “thats really what it means”?? no, you would not. point made.
  Try looking at the bigger picture. G’day.

• sam

  My grandchildren are both jewish and black.sometimes people stare at us .Its very difficult to go out with them because people cant stop staring.they are wonderful children full of love and i hope they will grow up strong in the jewish community
  please ,a little more sensitivity .and remember that there is really not one jewish look..

  • Milhouse

    There really is one Jewish look. And when someone looks unusual, it’s natural for people to be interested. If you look unusual, you should expect stares. Of course it’s rude to stare, but that doesn’t mean you can expect it not to happen. It’s just nature.

    Just remember that the Shulchon Oruch paskens, halocho lemaaseh, that the first time one sees a black person one says a brocho, meshaneh habriyos. That means the Torah recognizes this as an unusual appearance, different from normal. (The same halocho applie the first time one sees an albino, for the same reason.)

• C. R.

  Beautifully and eloquently written. I completely agree with you and am shocked that people readily admit using that word. It does not matter what the word means. It’s not used to denote respect or kindness.

  Reading some of the comments on this site (and I can only hope that it is young, naiive, uneducated kids responding), I feel that we need some critical introspection when we offer the world “goodness and kindness” but can’t seem to extend that to our own.

• Dee

  To me schvarze means black the color. No other connotation. I think you find this virulent hatred towards blacks mostly in communities where the black population is low income and there are high crime rates. Growing up on the west coast, we did not feel the same way about schvartzes. I feel for this man, it’s not easy being a black jew in Crown Heights. My suggestion to him is that if this kind of attitude bothers you so much, move to a more accepting community. Crown Heighters can be notoriously close minded.

• Just a random Joe

  if you aren’t looking for an insult you won’t find it. when people say shvartze, they dont mean it as nigger. i am living proof

• Confused and Disgusted Montrealer

  As Jews, we should know better. In the 60’s, here in Montreal, ” Refs” was a derogatory term used by Jewish refugees who arrived from Europe in the early 1900’s to refer to Jews who arrived after the war. Shvartz or Schvartze may mean black, but it is how and when it is used that is problematic . There is a difference if one says “Sam is Jewish, or “Sam is a JEW!. I will never use the term Shvartz/Schvatze, or Shiksah/Shaigetz. To hear the terms used by those who are “Yirei Shamayim” and otherwise good people is disgusting!

  • YMSP

    Well said (from a former Mtler, who was not born yet in the 60s though).

• Anecdotal Evidence

  I’m white. I was assualted, s–ually assaulted, by a Jewish man several years ago. I felt so powerless at the time and tried to forget it because there was nothing I could do to change anything. Today something brought it all back, and I found myself wandering down Utica in tears. And guess who kept stepping out of their own lives to be kind? Black people. Make of that what you will, especially those of you making self righteous comments about bike thiefs…

  • Milhouse

    This is indeed anecdotal evidence, and from only one anecdote. The fact is that your experience is an exception; not a very rare one, but it’s far far more common for the opposite to happen.

• Question

  Do you have any daughters? When you do and they want to go a walk at 9-10 pm write anarticle about why you have to say no….and feel unsafe when she doesn’t listen

• For those of us.....

  For those of us who write that “schvartze” is a word that means “black, nothing else”, that’s great! But I hope you know that for others that word holds a lot more meaning. For some, it has a whole other connotation. That is the reality. And BECAUSE that is the reality,we all need to pay attention as to how and when we use the word. Seriously. It’s no different from using the word “Jew”. BECAUSE it means something different to different people, we appreciate it when others from other backgrounds use it in an aware and sensitive way. It’s the menchkite thing to do and be!!!!! Let’s be that way for all people!!!!

• excellently written

  “I am not my race. I am who I want to be. I am a chossid. I ride my bike. I take pictures. I am also black and Jewish; and I’m proud of both of those things, but I am not defined by these external qualities.”
  This is why it is almost ridiculous that racism is still such a hot topic. Because it is so external. There is no reason for it to still exist, especially in a community that is supposed to be focusing on the internal.
  This is why there shouldn’t even be people trying to act extra nice to members of other races, as if subconsciously trying to make up for some perpetration. Actions like that confirm racism in that your behavior and attitude is conformable to this external factor.

• Berel.....

  I partly agree with you; however, I think if you take yourself a step further, past your mind and to your heart, you will understand that generalizations about a people are insulting and hurtful to those within the generalization. So a Jew hearing or reading “they are regarded as arrogant and cheap and dishonest people” would perceive that as quite offensive. Thus, when a black person hears or reads “they are not regarded well for whatever reason”, that comment is quite offensive to the African American. Now, if one’s response to that is “but it’s true about the blacks”, then I see a bigoted generalizer who isn’t able to see past his own limited awareness. I think we need to take some time to think this through before making blanket statements about any one group, because if we don’t, we are overlooking a VERY important issue.

• To Millhouse

  You have some very interesting interpretations, but they are way off. You seem to be stuck in so many negative preconceptions, your interpretations aren’t even reasonable. If you believe Jews are better than other people, that all goyim are inferior, that the only normal is Caucasian, then you are living in some kind of altered universe. How can everyone not Caucasian be not normal? There are so many races, so many colors in the world. There are JEWS of every color! YOU CAN NOT BE, NOR WERE YOU EVER, SUPERIOR JUST BECAUSE YOUR SKIN IS LIGHT! That makes no sense. Do you think every other color or every other religion exists so that the white Jew can delight in a notion that he is better than the rest? Just makes no sense!

• Oy, Millhouse!

  Oy, oy, oy ! Your vantage point is SO hard for me to read! How can you dare say that a white Jewish person is what is “normal”? That’s like saying we might as well not have anyone else in the universe except for white Jews!? Huh? I can’t fathom how you come to that conclusion. Would you care to explain?

• Millhouse #6:

  So you do get that generalizations do not work, evidently, because you see that a Jew abused another Jew tragically and an African American stole a bike. So that makes all Jews molesters and all Blacks thieves, right? That would be your logic. I don’t know who is regarded how in the world, because the world is vast, having Jews of every color and Blacks that cringe at any form of crime! Your narrow view of Blacks discounts Blacks you have never met , who live on the other side of the world and everywhere in between! You refer to a group of billions of people as if they all live in Crown Heights! Again, it’s a big world out there!

• To Millhouse and Berel -

  I just noticed your comments on this topic, and I want to tell you something. I am a white Jew who will never agree with what I consider to be horrible and disrespectful generalizations such as yours. In my opinion, you are in some kind of unrealistic bubble that damages the landscape of this universe. When is the last time you checked as to how an omnipresent G-d of ALL divides humans into inferior/superior categories? Really?! Check with a LEARNED JEW, please. A WISE counsel. A Jew with the mind and heart to know that there is good and evil in EVERY group. If you can’t see that, then try sharing your sense of superiority to the little Jewish girl who was molested by her uncle. The Jewish boy who was kicked and beaten to a pulp by another Jewish boy. A Jewish wife who was ignored, shamed, beaten, and abandoned by her cheating Jewish husband. And worse, as I’m sure you have heard about in the past 2 years alone! Need I go on? If these learned men you seek out agree with YOU, please post what they said. As a matter of fact, please post WHATEVER it is they said !

• Shlomo

  I’m sure 99% of the time it is used either derogatorily or at least with no respect..I applaud his piece on this sensitive subject