For some of you, this news may be a bit stale, but, to me, it’s fresh and I’m ready to get to the core of this mystery. When I found out that CNN reporter Rick Sanchez got fired for saying Stewart was a “bigot” and Jews ran the media, I naturally wanted to spring to Stewart’s defense. Little did I know just how wrong Sanchez comments were.
I’ll readily admit I’m a huge fan of The Daily Show. Jon Stewart’s comedic savvy, level-headedness, and sprinklings of Jewish humor crack me up every time I get a chance to watch the show.
Sanchez charged that Stewart grew up in the New Jersey suburbs getting whatever he wanted. Looking into Stewart’s background, it seems that he did grow up with a degree of privilege, with two working parents and a steady family income. Stewart had a lot going for him. However, all was not roses, as Sanchez so ignorantly claimed. If he was going to take shots at Stewart, he should’ve done his research.
For one, Stewart experienced anti-Semitic bullying as a child. Even if it wasn’t intense anti-Semitic racism, it still must have hurt to be a kindergartner having his heritage mocked and his last name, “Leibowitz,” turned into curse words. Stewart later experienced prejudice in college.
Regarding a perfect family life, Stewart’s father left him when Jon was only 11. His father remarried and the two have a tenuous relationship. Racism at a young age and divorced parents when he was only 11-years-old: these childhood issues aren’t insurmountable, but must have been extremely difficult for a young child to overcome. Sanchez shouldn’t have put Stewart on some pedestal where he lived in a paradise surrounded by riches: indeed, his childhood wasn’t perfect. He had it good in many respects, but he did experience hardship.
On the second charge — how is Stewart a bigot? From every episode I’ve ever seen of the show, he seems remarkably “fair and balanced,” as Fox News’s ironic slogan dubs its network. Sure, he’s liberal, but does he have more of a “white, establishment” point of view than any other commentator? Probably not.
Furthermore, Sanchez went on to say that Jews control the media. Ah, that old chestnut. Sure, there are a lot of Jews in top media positions, but, as that article mentions, many of them are not Jewish. To suggest that Jews are involved in some conspiracy of puppeteering every media outlet in the country not only demeans Jews and reduces us to an image of crafty, mean-spirited individuals, but it also demeans the many individuals who are of other religions and ethnicities who have major roles in running media outlets. Jews aren’t pulling their strings, but working with other executives of many different colors and creeds.
After all of this, did Sanchez deserve to be fired? I would say so. Until he rectifies his world-view to one that is not as bigoted and misinformed, he should keep away from the media airwaves, where his inappropriate and false comments will not create biases against any more Jews or others.
