Drawing outside attention to the campus Coastie phenomenon, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel printed Megan Twohey's article, 'The Great 'Coastie ' Divide' in Nov. 2005. Twohey never mentioned that it was once more common on our campus to refer to the Ugg crowd from New York, New Jersey, California and Illinois as JAPs (Jewish American Princesses). Maybe Twohey felt the issue was irrelevant or never considered it. That's an odd omission. If Coastie is in fact another way of saying JAP, the 'Coastie Divide' hints at more than a difference in style.
JAP is receding from the campus vernacular. Anti-semitism, though, remains a problem in 21st century United States. Even after Sept. 11, the FBI regularly records far more 'hate crimes' against Jews than Muslims.
JAP is also a misleading designation. The first part of the acronym, 'Jewish-American,' advances the idea that Jews are a race rather than a group of religious monotheists. The second part, 'Princess' or 'Prince,' denotes a spoiled child from a wealthy family. In some ways, JAP is like a softened, pop-culture variant of 'kike,' an old pejorative.
In-state students over the past few years increasingly use the term Coastie instead of JAP. There seems to be a difference between the two labels. After all, when a local student carps about a Coastie , they do not necessarily designate a Jew at all, nor is hostility necessarily involved. Twohey emphasized the latter point, quoting a freshman from Milwaukee: 'We [Midwesterners and Coastie s] just like to make fun of each other.'
Yet the Coastie label is tied to JAP. In complaints about Coastie s there's an emphasis on money that could be perceived as similar to the old, medieval conception of Jews as rich usurers. This can be seen in another common charge against Coastie s; they are said to pay for their $20,280 out-of-state tuition, Langdon Street rent, Greek lifestyle and North Face jackets with'you guessed it''daddy's credit card.'
While the word Coastie does not explicitly stereotype Jews, the point is often implicit. Twohey's article was almost painful in dancing around this. 'Most people think about ethnic diversity, people of color,' Twohey quoted Wren Singer Wielgus of the Dean of Student's Counseling Psychology Department for new students and orientation. 'But I think it's much more likely a freshman would make a derogatory comment about someone from the East Coast than someone of color.' Though that comment referred to racial, rather than religious identity, it is hard to believe that the speaker was unaware of the connection between East Coast rich-kid stereotypes and Jewish stereotypes.
This isn't to say that Coastie -bashers are raging anti-Semites, or that all Coastie s are Jewish (they are not). Rather, Coastie -bashers might, like Kirby Allbee in Saul Bellow's 1947 novel 'The Victim,' have their powerful moral arguments colored by Judeophobia.
When a local gripes about a Los Angeles Coastie 's whopping sunglasses, cell phone abuse, sorority sweater and perceived wealth, he is certainly within his rights to conclude she looks ridiculous, is annoying, whatever'but that does not change the fact that Coastie-bashing can be similar to Jewish stereotyping.
So what should be done? The girl from Sheboygan goes to Brats, the girl from Manhattan goes to the Angelic'who cares, right? On a liberal campus, we're supposed to foster diversity, combat divisiveness. But politically correct struggle sessions in the freshmen dorm lounges probably will not do much to close our idiotic 'Coastie Divide.'
Instead, maybe the UW-Madison should build more dormitories and require that in-state and out-of-state freshmen live together for a year in one big Balkan mix. Then, if our 'Coastie Divide' continues, it will be because the different groups know one another too well, rather than not well enough.
