On Sept. 10, 1976, Student Life ran a front-page picture showing how the underpass is a prime location for social commentary. The underpass, in that picture, was painted its full length with the following: “J.A.P.$ Go Home!! But ‘Bring Back a Doctor’ First.”
A professor from the department of Chinese and Japanese, Robert Morell, took offense to that picture in a letter to the editor, describing it as “an example of bad taste.” (The editor pointed out that JAP stands for Jewish American Princess, and is not a derogatory term for an Asian.)
But even more hilarious was the follow up to that letter from Golda Levine and Bernard Goldstein, self-described JAPs (they pointed out that the ‘P’ can also stand for ‘prince’). The duo trumpeted their pride at being JAPs, and lambasted Morell for “deny[ing] our rightful place in the social structure.”
Finding that Morell’s “bourgeois attitude” was in need of change, Levine and Goldstein asked, “Does he truly believe that marrying a doctor is in bad taste? What would his mother say?”
It’s hard to tell if Levine and Goldstein were being serious or spurious, in retrospect. Regardless of Morell’s mistaken beliefs and the ensuing comedy of errors, the anti-Semitism displayed on the underpass was anything but funny.
Fortunately, the University’s policies on posting now prohibit such discriminatory advertising. Not that another anti-Semitic underpass painting is likely on a campus that is a third Jewish. Any anti-Semitic display would probably be promptly rendered illegible by graffiti by angry students. If Jews for Jesus’ ads get vandalized, surely an anti-Semitic ad would be as well.
But let’s get back to the real issue: is marrying a doctor in bad taste? Jewish wisdom remains unchanged 28 years later, with a definitive “no” as the answer. It has become more open-minded, though; a lawyer is another suitable spouse, and progressive Jewish mothers may even accept their daughters marrying an academic or market analyst.
Levine and Goldstein were absolutely prescient in one aspect: JAPs have indeed established their niche in the campus’ social scene.