TIL that his museum says that "Roald Dahl’s racism is undeniable and indelible" - eviltoast

This is the first I’ve heard of it, but here’s one of his infamous quotes:

"There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews.

I mean, there’s always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason.”

His other quotes tend to be condemnation about specifically Israeli zionism and barbaric murder, but i don’t have context as to whether he’s referring to palestine or not. Some people might have more sympathy for these statements these days, but a lot of his other quotes have to do with Jews controlling money and media, less defensible prejudice.

  • solsangraal@lemmy.zipEnglish
    2·
    4 months ago

    you can convert to judaism and literally become jewish, even though you weren’t born into a jewish family. setting aside all the shit going on in politics right now, you cannot “decide” to become a different race

    • Nougat@fedia.io
      81·
      4 months ago

      “Jewish” can describe race, ethnicity, culture, nationality, religion, or any combination of the above, depending on who’s using the word and in what context.

        • Nougat@fedia.io
          4·
          4 months ago

          Since you seem to be hung on semantics, perhaps a definition is in order:

          Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society.[1] The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of various kinds, including those characterized by close kinship relations.[2] By the 17th century, the term began to refer to physical (phenotypical) traits, and then later to national affiliations. Modern science regards race as a social construct, an identity which is assigned based on rules made by society.[3][4][5] While partly based on physical similarities within groups, race does not have an inherent physical or biological meaning.[1][6][7] The concept of race is foundational to racism, the belief that humans can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another.

          To the extent that “race” is even a real thing (I’m of the opinion that it’s not a useful or productive way to categorize people), many people do classify themselves and others using that terminology, for good or ill. It would generally be in the context of biological heritage (“bloodlines,” ew).

          I wonder if @FlyingSquid@lemmy.world would have something to add here.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldEnglish
            5·
            4 months ago

            I would personally prefer the word ‘ethnicity’ to ‘race.’ As far as I’m concerned, if you want to associate me with a race, it would be white. The problem is that a lot of white people don’t see it that way. See Elon Musk saying “you have said the actual truth” to the guy who said that Jews were oppressing white people. But I’m not going to let those people get their way. I’m white.

            I have all of the same privileges that come with being white in America that every other white person has and I share in the shameful responsibility white people need to take for racism, both institutional and personal. I really don’t want to say I don’t benefit from that unfairness or share that burden because that wouldn’t be true.

          • paraphrand@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            4 months ago

            So the terminally online could be considered a race with a certain perspective. Interesting.

            (I don’t say this to diminish or reject the definition. I just find it interesting to think about.)

            Though maybe as others point out, it might be an ethnicity?

          • solsangraal@lemmy.zipEnglish
            1·
            4 months ago

            really, it comes down to usage. science may not be able to pin down a “scientific” definition, and it absolutely is a construct–but isn’t everything that isn’t defined by a mathematical formula a “construct”?

            so if we’re stuck with using terms like “race” whether they’re “real things” or not, then i think it’s important to distinguish how they’re used. i will not agree that “jewish” is a race in the same way that “african american” is a race, because although both groups face oppression, one of them is a choice, and the other isn’t

            though it has to be said, that according to judaism, if your mother is a jew, then you are too, whether you want to be or not. i call bullshit on that

            hi @FlyingSquid@lemmy.world !

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              4 months ago

              Hello!

              though it has to be said, that according to judaism, if your mother is a jew, then you are too

              Only religious Judaism. Many Jews consider someone a Jew if they only have a Jewish father. Such as in the case of my daughter. I’ve yet to have anyone claim she isn’t Jewish. I’m sure some Orthodox asshole would, but he’d say I wasn’t Jewish either because I married a “shiksa,” so…