Jewish Group Outraged At Jay-Z’s Anti-Semitic Lyrics
The Anti-Defamation League, an organization that supposedly keeps its eye on bigotry and racism in the United States and abroad, has publicly stated that it has a problem with a line from “The Story of O.J.” on Jay-Z’s new album.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the track, check it out:
Apparently, Jay’s mention that Jewish people are shrewd investors and property owners read as offensive rather than informative.
‘You wanna know what’s more important than throwin’ away money at a strip club? Credit/ You ever wonder why Jewish people own all the property in America? This how they did it.’
The organization believes that Jay’s bars feed into long-standing stereotypes that, while positive in connotation, feed into bigotry. Think “Asians are great at math,” or “Black people run really fast.” As a rep shared with Rolling Stone:
“The idea that Jews ‘own all the property’ in this country and have used credit to financially get ahead are odious and false. Yet, such notions have lingered in society for decades, and we are concerned that this lyric could feed into preconceived notions about Jews and alleged Jewish ‘control’ of the banks and finance.”
However, the ADL doesn’t think Jay-Z necessarily meant to say something so stereotypical.
“We do not believe it was Jay-Z’s intent to promote anti-Semitism. On the contrary, we know that Jay-Z is someone who has used his celebrity in the past to speak out responsibly and forcefully against the evils of racism and anti-Semitism.
[But] the lyric does seem to play into deep-seated anti-Semitic stereotypes about Jews and money.”
All well and good, we guess. But the ADL seems to be missing the fact that the song AIN’T ABOUT JEWISH FOLKS! It’s rapped out advice and observations specifically for us.
Either way, we doubt Jay plans to back down from a single thing he said on the track. What do you think? Is the ADL within their rights with this one, or do they need to chill and let Hov rock while trying to give us a million dollars worth of game for $9.99?
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