An anti-Semitic slur allegedly uttered by Taghkanic tax assessor Art Griffith during the town’s February Town Board meeting has caught the attention of some local, Albany and statewide media—but hardly all.
So far, Deborah Gilbert at The Columbia Paper, Celeste Katz at The New York Daily News, and the Capitol Confidential column of The Albany Times-Union have each reported on the topic.
According to accounts, not only did Griffith use the words “Jewed down” to describe a financial negotiation, but he was unapologetic despite a roomful of upset observers
Gilbert’s article describes Supervisor Betty Young trying to tamp down the situation by saying that Griffith had made a “mistake.” Yet Griffith evidently wasn’t interested in grabbing this lifeline, countering instead that “Jewed down” is a “common phrase” which is “used all the time.” (In what social circles, exactly?)
The comment also was said to have occurred during a testy back-and-forth with a Town Board member of Jewish descent, making some observers wonder all the more whether the provocation was deliberate, rather than a tasteless slip-up.
Several attendees have since noted that a writer for The Register-Star was present at the meeting, including the portion when the slur was said. The paper filed a February 17th report on the Taghkanic highway department’s progress. However, as of this date no Reg-Star article has mentioned the uproar caused by Griffith’s language.
That paper has reported in the past on at least one similar incident, in which a Hudson City School curriculum director made a dismissive statement about "minorities."
NOTE: Still others remembered in this context that the highly-contentious 2008 election in Taghkanic involved some allegations of anti-Semitism as well. County and town Republicans hired lawyers and at least one private investigator to challenge (ultimately without success) the voter registrations of many so-called “dual home owners.” Some noted at the time that a very high perentage of the names targeted appeared to be Jewish or Jewish-sounding. However, that concern seemed a great deal more speculative than the above matter, in which Mr. Griffith has affirmed his use of a phrase widely regarded as a slur.
