Ohio State University Professor Jackie Buell issued an apology for using the words “Jewing down” during a lecture.
Dan Abrams, who hosts “The Dan Abrams Show” on SiriusXM, did a segment on December 15 about the matter. In an October lecture, Buell can be heard saying that “Jewing people down is the way of the world” in various Mexico shops. “You want to be buy a blanket that has $5 on it, and you say, ‘I’ll give you $2 for it’ and they say no, and you just start walking away, and they say, ‘Three dolla!’ They just want to get what they can out of it. But now they come to this country, we get people that come in the market all the time that want to Jew us down on the vegetables.”
Insanity – @OhioState University Professor Dr. Jackie Buell casually throws out "Jewing people down" when referring to shopping experiences in Mexico during a Zoom class lecture.
She repeats "Jew us down" just a few moments later. pic.twitter.com/s7IJRF7C3G
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) December 17, 2021
Buell issued a subsequent apology to her class via email saying that she didn’t intend to cause any harm. “I have never associated the word ‘jew’ with any particular person or group and I am sorry to have offended anyone,” she wrote, acknowledging that everyone has “blind spots” and that it’s important to discuss those blind spots in an academic setting. The university told Abrams that they are investigating the matter.
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Cleveland Regional Director James Pasch told Abrams that “Jew them down” is “an age-old antisemitic trope. Associating Jews with money goes back to Biblical times and it comes at a time when we’re on the heels of rising antisemitism in Ohio and in particular on college campuses.” He lauded the university for looking into it and said the incident provided a good opportunity for a “learning moment.”
Abrams said that he was “stunned” that Buell said she “didn’t know that the word ‘Jew’ is associated with a particular person or group.” “I hate cancel culture,” he said. “If she truly apologizes with a more sincere apology, I’m certainly not going to call for her to be fired. But you tell me, if she had used a similar word to disparage a different minority group, would she still be employed by Ohio State tonight?”
An anti-Semitic slur was mentioned by a professor in a classroom at The Ohio State University. Dan questions whether she'd still be working if it were a slur against another minority.#DanAbramsLive #OSU #NewsNation pic.twitter.com/6Y2JFtgdCS
— Dan Abrams Live (@danabramslive) December 16, 2021
Stop Antisemitism Executive Director Liora Rez said in a statement to the Journal, “It is horrifying that a university professor would so casually drop a horrific antisemitic trope not once but numerous times while addressing her class. While she apologized, the university should still require Dr. Buell participate in some much-needed diversity and sensitivity training that includes antisemitism. All too often, antisemitism is excluded from diversity trainings, and this is further evidence of why it’s so important to educate people about this age-old scourge.”
Social Media Lite CEO Emily Schrader tweeted out the Abrams segment and wrote that Abrams asked “whether [Buell would] still be working if it were a slur against another minority…but he doesn’t have to because we all know the answer.”
An antisemitic slur was mentioned by a professor in a classroom at The Ohio State University. Here, a reporter questions whether she'd still be working if it were a slur against another minority…but he doesn’t have to because we all know the answer
— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) December 17, 2021
Buell did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.
