# H. Truman -"The Jews, I find are very, very selfish" Anti-Semite or just pissed off? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 11, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-truman-the-jews-i-find-are-very-very-selfish-anti-semite-or-just-pissed-off/187729 "2003-07-11T15:36:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-truman-the-jews-i-find-are-very-very-selfish-anti-semite-or-just-pissed-off/187729/21 "2003-07-12T04:39:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > \*\*I’m less sympathetic to his subsequent comment, “Put an underdog on top and it makes no difference whether his name is Russian, Jewish, Negro, Management, Labor, Mormon, Baptist he goes haywire. I’ve found very, very few who remember their past condition when prosperity comes.” I think the Jews who reached the top showed considerable memory of their past conditions and continued active support for the underdog. That’s why Jews were very active in the civil rights movement. That’s why prosperous Jews overwhelmingly vote Democratic. \*\* Perhaps for Jews living in America. But for Jews who emigrated to Palestine- while some were committed to creating a land that treated everyone fairly, many of the rest had no care beyond creating a land for Jews, and the hell with the Arabs currently living there. Many of those active in the '20’s through '40’s- _especially_ followers of Zev Jabotinsky and the Revisionist movement, and later Irgun and the Stern Gang- showed the same callous disregard and disgust for the Arabs living there that the Russians and Poles had shown _them_ when they were living back in Europe. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-truman-the-jews-i-find-are-very-very-selfish-anti-semite-or-just-pissed-off/187729/22 "2003-07-12T04:45:44Z")
A Jewish guy told me the exact same thing. And yes, he had the yarmulke on when he did. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-truman-the-jews-i-find-are-very-very-selfish-anti-semite-or-just-pissed-off/187729/23 "2003-07-12T14:25:11Z")
isn’t the title quote repeated throughout the Hebrew Scriptures themselves? Truman may have shared the socially-acceptable-at-the-time anti-Semitism of his day but he didn’t let it control him, IOW- he was just PO’d that day. I enjoy the other quote I’ve heard attributed to him about the Jews because I can apply it to some of my non-Christian Gentile friends- “Jesus Christ couldn’t make them happy. What chance do I have?” ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-truman-the-jews-i-find-are-very-very-selfish-anti-semite-or-just-pissed-off/187729/24 "2003-07-12T15:35:48Z")
For me, the problem is Truman’s generalisation, and the focus on Jews, whereas his main point seems to be about underdogs from any race or religion. Look at (anti-white) racism now in South Africa - while it may be unsuprising, it’s still a case of the underdog getting power, and using it to oppress rather than liberalise. Just like in Israel, with its oppressed Arab population, let alone the oppression going on in Palestine. But is vital that opponents of expansionist Israelis/Sharon regime do not in their opposition slur all Jews and Israelis. What is needed is to isolate the group deserving of criticism, in order to shame, vilify and eventually prosecute them, with the help of their law abiding and peaceful fellow countrymen, not by offending all of them. Truman just offends all Jews with this remark. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-truman-the-jews-i-find-are-very-very-selfish-anti-semite-or-just-pissed-off/187729.md?page=1)