Old prejudices die hard
I just read Andrew Silow-Carroll’s column from Oct. 7, “Rick Sanchez: guilty with an explanation.”
This incident reminds me of a class I took at Rutgers called “Minorities in Mass Media” back in the late 1970s. I will never forget that first day in class when the instructor asked the class (approximately 80 percent African-American and 20 percent Caucasian) who represented a minority in media at that time. Of the various groups listed on the blackboard, only two minorities remained after the discussion: blacks and Hispanics. The Jews were wiped off right away as the majority response in the classroom was — and I will never forget this answer — “Jews own/run the media. They’re no minority.” Jews were considered too powerful to be considered a minority.
I really do think Rick Sanchez meant just what he said: that Jon Stewart and others who are Jewish do run the media. It was prevalent back in college in the late 1970s and I think it still is today among those who consider themselves “minorities,” even the educated.
H. Gardiner
Brant Beach
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