Is It Okay For Kayla Moore to Say "Jew"?

On the Media

• Episode: Is It Okay For Kayla Moore to Say "Jew"?
• Website: On the Media
• Feed URL: http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia
• Duration: 00:19:27
• Published: 2017-12-14 00:11

Roy Moore just lost the election in Alabama, but not before his wife Kayla Moore caused an uproar at his final campaign rally. Defending her husband against "fake news" and accusations of antisemitism, Kayla Moore announced: "Our attorney is a Jew."

Mark Oppenheimer, host of the podcast Unorthodox, has argued that we should start using the word "Jew" rather than "Jewish." Brooke spoke with him earlier this year about the history of the term, its use as a racial slur, and how it could be re-purposed. After the Kayla Moore debacle, Brooke reconnected with Oppenheimer to talk about the possible limits of his argument, whether the Moores really have Jewish friends, and how to spell "Hanukkah."