An Open Letter to Jon Stewart

random3434

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Jun 29, 2008
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Great Points brought up by the author, Ron Rosenbaum

And, on a more serious note, it would represent the end of a shabby, antiquated era, pronouncing that aspect of anti-Semitism now (hopefully) dead and gone. It might even make it easier for young comedians, actors, and rock stars to resist the temptation to try to "pass." (Although, frankly, I hope that Gene Simmons of Kiss keeps his origins hidden from those who don't know about them.) It could be an important cultural moment.

Don't you think it's about time for Jews to reject the rejection of their ancestry and the WASP-ification of their names? Not just you, but all Jews in show business, indeed all Jews in business business. The practice might once have served a purpose, back in the '20s and '30s, when it was insisted upon by powerful but fearful Hollywood movie moguls who wanted Jewish talent but were afraid of Jewish names seeming un-American to the mass of the populace who, it's probably true at that time, suffered from a low-grade case of anti-Semitism. Or nativist hostility to foreign names in general. So Issur Danielovitch Demsky became Kirk Douglas. (You could have gone with Kirk Leibowitz.)



Should Jon Stewart change his name back to Jon Leibowitz? - By Ron Rosenbaum - Slate Magazine
 
John Stewart? This guy:

$images-1.jpeg

:confused:

Just kidding Echo :lol:

Great link btw. Thanks for posting. Though I think he should just keep his last name the way it is. Entertainers do it all the time in order to be more marketable. Authors are especially known for doing that, J.K Rowling being the most famous as her publishers wanted the K (being made up, her mother's maiden name for Katherine if I recall) because they didn't think boys would want to read a book by a female author.
 
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Great Points brought up by the author, Ron Rosenbaum

And, on a more serious note, it would represent the end of a shabby, antiquated era, pronouncing that aspect of anti-Semitism now (hopefully) dead and gone. It might even make it easier for young comedians, actors, and rock stars to resist the temptation to try to "pass." (Although, frankly, I hope that Gene Simmons of Kiss keeps his origins hidden from those who don't know about them.) It could be an important cultural moment.

Don't you think it's about time for Jews to reject the rejection of their ancestry and the WASP-ification of their names? Not just you, but all Jews in show business, indeed all Jews in business business. The practice might once have served a purpose, back in the '20s and '30s, when it was insisted upon by powerful but fearful Hollywood movie moguls who wanted Jewish talent but were afraid of Jewish names seeming un-American to the mass of the populace who, it's probably true at that time, suffered from a low-grade case of anti-Semitism. Or nativist hostility to foreign names in general. So Issur Danielovitch Demsky became Kirk Douglas. (You could have gone with Kirk Leibowitz.)

Should Jon Stewart change his name back to Jon Leibowitz? - By Ron Rosenbaum - Slate Magazine

Why should Jon Stewart be required to change his name to make some statement Ron Rosenbaum wants to make?

Let Rosenbaum change his name. :lol:

Shall we all change our names back to that of whatever was our earliest female ancestor to take a last name in order to make a statement about feminism?
 
I think the question we should also ask is, if it's ok for Jews to take "American" sounding names in order to fool people, is ok if I change my name to make people think I am Jewish?
 
Do folks not get the point of the article?

Many Jewish entertainers had to change their names to "Anglo-Saxon" ones to be "accepted" in the entertainment business.


He is saying, "Hey, it's 2009, take your name back now, be proud of your heritage!"
 
Do folks not get the point of the article?

Many Jewish entertainers had to change their names to "Anglo-Saxon" ones to be "accepted" in the entertainment business.


He is saying, "Hey, it's 2009, take your name back now, be proud of your heritage!"
Except it's not their names. Unless they were the ones to change their own name. He's also assuming they care about their heritage.
 
Do folks not get the point of the article?

Many Jewish entertainers had to change their names to "Anglo-Saxon" ones to be "accepted" in the entertainment business.


He is saying, "Hey, it's 2009, take your name back now, be proud of your heritage!"

That's all fine and good (though you saw willi-ijit's response to that, eh?)... but I guess it's no different from Marion Michael Morrison (John Wayne) and Archibald Leach (Cary Grant) changing their names to sound better... and that had nothing to do with ethnicity.
 
Do folks not get the point of the article?

Many Jewish entertainers had to change their names to "Anglo-Saxon" ones to be "accepted" in the entertainment business.


He is saying, "Hey, it's 2009, take your name back now, be proud of your heritage!"
Except it's not their names. Unless they were the ones to change their own name. He's also assuming they care about their heritage.

And yet there it still is: Jon Stewart. A faint but unnecessary relic of anti-Semitism. You know, Jon, the treatment of Jewish names is often a barometer of that social disease. I consulted one of the foremost scholars of anti-Semitism, Robert Wistrich, the author of a forthcoming history of it called A Lethal Obsession. He pointed out that "n 1938 the Nazi government obliged all German Jews to add an additional name (Israel for men and Sarah for women) to mark them off from the rest of the population. It was one more way of signaling the end of Jewish emancipation." And, Wistrich added, even now in very different circumstances, name changing of a different sort "reflects a latent Jewish insecurity and sense of vulnerability which is far from having disappeared." So you shouldn't feel bad about having done it, Jon. But it is a good time to change it.


His given name is Jon Leibowitz. He changed it to Stewart for show biz.
 
His given name is Jon Leibowitz. He changed it to Stewart for show biz.

I think his name is jon stewart liebowitz... he just dropped the last name. but it's not like he hides his background or anything. he clearly has no issue being jewish. but i think most people with ethnic names wouldn't mind making them "show biz sounding" at some point in their lives.
 
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His given name is Jon Leibowitz. He changed it to Stewart for show biz.

I think his name is jon stewart liebowitz... he just dropped the last name. but it's not like he hides his background or anything.

I know that, he is proud of his heritage!


I guess I'm confused, why wouldn't you want your given name back in the professional world. Am I missing something?
 
Do folks not get the point of the article?

Many Jewish entertainers had to change their names to "Anglo-Saxon" ones to be "accepted" in the entertainment business.


He is saying, "Hey, it's 2009, take your name back now, be proud of your heritage!"
Except it's not their names. Unless they were the ones to change their own name. He's also assuming they care about their heritage.

And yet there it still is: Jon Stewart. A faint but unnecessary relic of anti-Semitism. You know, Jon, the treatment of Jewish names is often a barometer of that social disease. I consulted one of the foremost scholars of anti-Semitism, Robert Wistrich, the author of a forthcoming history of it called A Lethal Obsession. He pointed out that "n 1938 the Nazi government obliged all German Jews to add an additional name (Israel for men and Sarah for women) to mark them off from the rest of the population. It was one more way of signaling the end of Jewish emancipation." And, Wistrich added, even now in very different circumstances, name changing of a different sort "reflects a latent Jewish insecurity and sense of vulnerability which is far from having disappeared." So you shouldn't feel bad about having done it, Jon. But it is a good time to change it.
His given name is Jon Leibowitz. He changed it to Stewart for show biz.

Did Stewart say it was because he was ashamed to be a Jew or of Jewish heritage? If so you would think he would have become John Stewart.

Anyway, I think that people should be able to change their names for whatever reason so long as it isn't for fraudulent purposes.
 
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According to this it was originally a Polish or Slavic name.

Leibowitz Name Meaning and Origin - Ancestry.com

Leibowitz
Jewish (Ashkenazic): patronymic from Leib 1. The suffix -owitz represents a Germanized form of the eastern Slavic patronymic suffix -ovich, Polish -owicz.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
 
Except it's not their names. Unless they were the ones to change their own name. He's also assuming they care about their heritage.

And yet there it still is: Jon Stewart. A faint but unnecessary relic of anti-Semitism. You know, Jon, the treatment of Jewish names is often a barometer of that social disease. I consulted one of the foremost scholars of anti-Semitism, Robert Wistrich, the author of a forthcoming history of it called A Lethal Obsession. He pointed out that "n 1938 the Nazi government obliged all German Jews to add an additional name (Israel for men and Sarah for women) to mark them off from the rest of the population. It was one more way of signaling the end of Jewish emancipation." And, Wistrich added, even now in very different circumstances, name changing of a different sort "reflects a latent Jewish insecurity and sense of vulnerability which is far from having disappeared." So you shouldn't feel bad about having done it, Jon. But it is a good time to change it.
His given name is Jon Leibowitz. He changed it to Stewart for show biz.

Did Stewart say it was because he was ashamed to be a Jew or of Jewish heritage? If so you would think he would have become John Stewart.

Anyway, I think that people should be able to change their names for whatever reason so long as it isn't for fraudulent purposes.



How is it not fraudulent to change your name for these show biz reasons? Isn't the clear purpose to mislead or give a false impression? The reasons for the fraud doesn't make it any less of a fraud does it?

Again, if I decided that my chances of getting into show business were better now, if I adopted a Jewish name, exactly what is the difference? Does it mean I'm ashamed of who I am? Do I have to be at a particular place on the advantaged/disadvantaged scale in order to qualify for non-fraudulent name change?

It is an interesting social adaptation, I'm sure their are other examples of it. African slaves come to mind, though I guess it was forced. And if Eddie Richardson wanted to reclaim "mabobo" as his name, I suppose he could.
 

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