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Spurs shame Spurs shame
(about 1 month later)
In his article (The Sport blog, 9 November), John Crace celebrates Spurs' fans "reclaiming" of the word Yid. However, Spurs fans did not reclaim the word in the normal way that that process is understood; in the way, for example, rappers reclaimed the N-word. Rappers reclaimed the N-word because they are black and proud to be so. Spurs fans, mainly non-Jews – thus the first example in history of a race-hate word being "reclaimed" not by the race in question – appropriated the word not because they are proud to be Jewish, but because they are proud to be Spurs fans. It's a big difference. The semiotic underneath the chant is: "We are so proud of being Spurs fans, we'll even embrace being called Yids, of all things, if it identifies us with the club." This is, and will always remain, fundamentally patronising and insulting to Jews.
David Baddiel
London
In his article (The Sport blog, 9 November), John Crace celebrates Spurs' fans "reclaiming" of the word Yid. However, Spurs fans did not reclaim the word in the normal way that that process is understood; in the way, for example, rappers reclaimed the N-word. Rappers reclaimed the N-word because they are black and proud to be so. Spurs fans, mainly non-Jews – thus the first example in history of a race-hate word being "reclaimed" not by the race in question – appropriated the word not because they are proud to be Jewish, but because they are proud to be Spurs fans. It's a big difference. The semiotic underneath the chant is: "We are so proud of being Spurs fans, we'll even embrace being called Yids, of all things, if it identifies us with the club." This is, and will always remain, fundamentally patronising and insulting to Jews.
David Baddiel
London
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