Kike | #TranslateHate | AJC - American Jewish Committee

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Kike

noun \ kīk \

: an offensive, derogatory term for a Jewish person

WHY IT’S ANTISEMITIC:

A cartoon drawing of the world under an umbrella saying "Kike, Kike GO AWAY!" while being cried on by a "smirking merchant" caricature rain cloud with the words 6 Million
An antisemitic meme inappropriately invoking the Holocaust that uses a derogatory word for Jews.

Kike is an ethnic slur for a Jewish person. It is a highly offensive term used to insult and denigrate people of Jewish faith or ethnicity that is widely considered to be a form of hate speech. There are multiple theories about where the term might have emerged. One popular theory is that it is derived from the Yiddish word for circle, “kikel,” a reference to how Jewish immigrants at Ellis Island signed their entry forms: a circle as opposed to an X, which Jews associated with the cross of Christianity. Immigration officers described those who signed forms with a circle as “kikel,” eventually being shortened to “kike.” While it is primarily used today by white supremacists as an anti-Jewish slur, it has also been used by public figures who are unfamiliar with its origins or meaning.

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