ZGram - 7/11/2002 - "Try to take this rocket science test"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

7/11/2002

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

I'd like to see the statisticians on my list dig their teeth  into 
this "poll" and give me their opinions.  Just for the heck of it - 
how would you answer the following questions - with a "yes" or with a 
"no"?

1) Blacks stick together more than other Americans.
2) Blacks always like to be at the head of things.
3) Blacks are more loyal to Africa than America.
4) Blacks have too much power in the U.S. today.
5) Blacks have too much control and influence on Wall Street.
6) Blacks have too much power in the business world.
7) Blacks have a lot of irritating faults.
8) Blacks are more willing than others to use shady practices to get 
what they want.
9) Black businesspeople are so shrewd that others don't have a fair 
chance at competition.
10) Blacks don't care what happens to anyone but their own kind.
11) Blacks are not just as honest as other businesspeople.

Let's say I took the test and came up with a score of 4.  Would that 
make me "moderately anti-Black"?  After all, I answered 7 items in 
the affirmative.

How about this one?

1) Whites stick together more than other Americans.
2) Whites always like to be at the head of things.
3) Whites are more loyal to Europe than America.
4) Whites have too much power in the U.S. today.
5) Whites have too much control and influence on Wall Street.
6) Whites have too much power in the business world.
7) Whites have a lot of irritating faults.
8) Whites are more willing than others to use shady practices to get 
what they want.
9) Whites businesspeople are so shrewd that others don't have a fair 
chance at competition.
10) Whites don't care what happens to anyone but their own kind.
11) Whites are not just as honest as other businesspeople.

Let's pretend my score on this test would be a 6.  Would that make me 
"anti-White"?

Of course you know what I am aiming at because the politically 
correct answers are embedded in the way the questions are phrased. 
An eight-grader can see that. 

So this, then, is a follow-up on the original "poll" the 
Anti-Defamation League took that "showed" that "anti-semitism" in 
America was markedly increasing - especially in the Hispanic and 
Black communities.  Another member of the tribe (we guess...she might 
have married one) takes the simplistic methodology employed apart, 
albeit gingerly. 

(Unfortunately, I can't give you the source since it was sent to me 
by half a dozen ZGram readers via e-mail without source.)

[START]

Gossip, speculation, and scuttlebutt about politics.

How the ADL Counts Anti-Semites

An "anti-Semitism index" that's less than scientific.

By Samantha M. Shapiro

Posted Tuesday, July 9, 2002, at 12:35 PM PT

The Anti-Defamation League last month released a survey stating that 
fully 17 percent of the U.S. population holds beliefs that are 
"strongly anti-Semitic." The report also said that 35 percent of 
Latinos and 35 percent of African-Americans were "strongly 
anti-Semitic." Wow, I thought, that's a lot of Jew-haters! On closer 
inspection, though, the ADL's methodology seems pretty shaky.

How does the ADL measure anti-Semitism? With an "anti-Semitism 
index," of course.

Respondents are asked to comment on 11 supposedly inflammatory 
statements about Jews. Those who agree with anywhere from two to five 
of the statements are "middle" anti-Semites=92- "not completely 
prejudice-free in their attitudes toward Jews, but not an audience to 
be deeply worried about." Those who agree with six or more of the 
statements are "most" (i.e., "strongly") anti-Semitic. Here are the 
11 statements:

1) Jews stick together more than other Americans.
2) Jews always like to be at the head of things.
3) Jews are more loyal to Israel than America.
4) Jews have too much power in the U.S. today.
5) Jews have too much control and influence on Wall Street.
6) Jews have too much power in the business world.
7) Jews have a lot of irritating faults.
8) Jews are more willing than others to use shady practices to get 
what they want.
9) Jewish businesspeople are so shrewd that others don't have a fair 
chance at competition.
10) Jews don't care what happens to anyone but their own kind.
11) Jews are not just as honest as other businesspeople.

Even the ADL concedes that "at least one or two" of the above 
statements are "arguably ambiguous." (They're included only because 
they've been part of the group's methodology since 1964.) In reality, 
about half the above statements can be described as (varyingly 
cartoonish) descriptions of cultural traits widely ascribed to Jews 
that are either neutral or flattering. Statements such as "Jewish 
business people are so shrewd that others don't have a fair chance at 
competition" and "Jews always like to be at the head of things" are 
really just ham-handed ways of saying that Jews tend to be smart, a 
generalization that in other contexts Jews might agree with. Even a 
genuinely offensive statement such as "Jews have too much power" 
might conceivably win endorsement not because the respondent hates 
Jews but because the respondent hates power. When you rephrase it as 
a multiple-choice question ("Which group has too much power?"), 
significantly fewer people choose "Jews."

In the survey, the 11 "anti-Semitic" statements are camouflaged by 
other "positive and neutral" statements about Jews, responses that 
the ADL ignores when compiling its anti-Semitism index. Among the 
philo-Semitic ones are statements that Jews have a special commitment 
to social justice and that Jews have contributed much to America's 
cultural life. (Interestingly, the ADL finds that "an overwhelming 
majority of Americans accept virtually all the positive statements 
about Jews.") But the camouflage works all too well: The "positive 
and neutral" statements are often indistinguishable from the 
"anti-Semitic" ones. It is stated, for instance, that Jews place a 
strong emphasis on the importance of family life. Why should this be 
regarded as less offensive than "Jews stick together more than other 
Americans"? The latter may be an anti-Semitic trope, but it's 
circulated with pride at your average Shabbat afternoon lecture of 
the National Conference of Synagogue Youth. It also inspires 
admiration in other ethnic groups. Tellingly, the ADL report claims 
there are much higher rates of anti-Semitism in foreign-born Latinos 
than those who were born in America=92 - 44 percent versus 20 percent. 
But perhaps what that number really shows is that recent immigrants 
value sticking together and remaining loyal to the mother country.

In some instances, the ADL's methodology may be drastically 
underestimating the extent of anti-Semitism. For example, the survey 
states a gratifyingly low (three percent) rate of anti-Semitism on 
campus. From this it concludes that anti-Semitism is more common 
among less-educated people. But is that really so? After all, college 
students are well-schooled in the "correct" answers to the ADL quiz. 
If, as many Jewish groups assert, anti-Semitism is piggybacking 
anti-Israel sentiment on campuses, it's not on statements like "Jews 
are shrewd in business." It's on statements like this one attributed 
to Nicholas DeGenova, a professor of Latino studies at Columbia 
University, in the April 18 edition of the Columbia Spectator:

"The heritage of the victims of the Holocaust belongs to the 
Palestinian people. The state of Israel has no claim to the heritage 
of the Holocaust."

The ADL poll has no way of gauging agreement with that idea. But 
since it was volunteered publicly by a person who influences thought 
and opinion, it seems much likelier than any of the anti-Semitism 
index's statements to reflect genuine hostility toward Jews.

Samantha M. Shapiro is a writer in New York City.

[END]