Coastie’ doesn’t always encompass Uggs and North Face
Coastie’ doesn’t always encompass Uggs and North Face
I have a dream. That one day our University of Wisconsin student body will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Badgers are created equal.”
I have a dream that we, as students, will one day not be judged by the coast on which we were born, but rather the lake near which we now reside.
Let Freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York, to the curvaceous slopes of California and to the magnificent mile of Chicago’s North End. Let Freedom Ring!
The controversy surrounding “Coastie” and “Sconnie” is not quite as drastic as the civil rights movement. But the use of Coastie as a derogatory term deserves our attention. Its use is a reflection of deeper racial issues in the university’s past and, although harmless to some, can be an offensive slur when misused.
As a native Californian, I’ve been called a Coastie once or twice in my time here. It doesn’t bother me too much; I’ll be singing Christmas carols on the beach in a bathing suit during winter break. But I digress. What does bother me is the use of the term as a racial slur against Jews. And although the word is more often than not used in good humor, its definition has come to encompass, negatively, the religious stereotypes of a large group of Wisconsin students.
But what exactly does Coastie mean? Technically, students from California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii would be Coasties. We should throw in Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to cover our geographical bases. There’s also the southernmost states all the way from southeast Texas to Virginia and perhaps Washington D.C. biliig Ugg StiefelBut in its most common usage, the term Coastie refers to the stereotypical, rich Jewish population of students from New York, New Jersey, New England and Chicago.
So is Coastie a geographical term? Last time I checked, the Great Lakes don’t count as an ocean. Rather, Coastie seems to refer to a certain personality type. Urbandictionary.com defines Coastie as, “pretty dumb and use the word ‘like’ alot. They dress really slutty in their black spandex and v-neck shirts. North Face jackets, big sunglasses, scarves, and Ugg boots are a must.”
In the infamous, “What’s A Coastie” YouTube video, a Coastie girl is defined as a JAP, or Jewish American Princess. The video also repeatedly refers to them as their “East Coast Jewish Honey.”
JAP is an offensive ethnic slur, and to equate the term with Coastie elevates the issue from merely harmless mocking. If people looked into the history of the word, they would find a long and complicated history between the university and its Jewish community.
As discussed by Jonathon Pollack in a recent panel discussion on the meaning of Coastie versus Sconnie, UW-Madison sought more widespread prestige by encouraging a greater number of Jewish applicants in the 1920s. Their arrival on campus, however, was met with unwelcoming slurs and accusations of, “asking too many questions and disrupting lectures.” Pollack went on to explain that Jewish students were not guaranteed student housing, and that the University allowed discrimination by private residence halls that refused Jewish students, Ugg Boots online Shop defending their right to refuse service to whom they please.
Throughout the 1930s, “Jewish” came to refer to anyone with liberal political views, culminating in the throwing of a Jewish demonstrator into Lake Mendota by Wisconsin football players yelling, according to Pollack’s research, “Down with the New York Jews!”
In the 1970s, out-of-state tuition skyrocketed, raising suspicion that the deterrence of Jewish students played a factor in tuition decisions.
Of course, these characteristics are far different from the current state of affairs. Today, with over 5,000 students, the Jewish community at UW-Madison is one of the strongest and most active religious communities on campus. Yet the word Coastie remains in common usage, seemingly forgetful of its history and racial significance. To most, it describes a fashion sense, an attitude, a class, a sports alliance and a geographic gap. But when the word is used in a discriminatory manner against the religious affiliation of students, it transcends “No Big Deal” and enters the shaky realm of racism and ignorance. Yes, this issue has been covered many times before and to many seems to be an overblown reaction to an innocent tease. But when used in certain contexts, calling someone a Coastie can have much greater implications than you think.
Processing your request, Please wait....
