JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) -- The vice president of Jeffersonville City Council apologized after making offensive slur during a meeting last week.
During a council meeting on April 15, a vehicle maintenance director sought council's approval to buy a new service truck at a discounted rate. After some discussion, Councilwoman Lisa Gill spoke up.
"Did you mention that you actually called about that truck and actually, what I called, Jewed them down?" she asked the maintenance director before chuckling.
According to Dictionary.com, the phrase "Jewed down" is offensive and means "to bargain sharply with; beat down in price."
To Haleh Karimi, the executive director of Interfaith Paths to Peace, to say that phrase is offensive is an understatement.
"Oh my God!" an emotional Karimi said after watching video of the slur for the first time. "It's heartbreaking. It is heartbreaking. You've gotta give me a minute to just take my feelings back to normal."
She and others said that phrase feeds into a long-standing negative stereotype that's hurtful to Jewish people.
"I don't understand what was her intention of using those kinds of anti-Semitic words," she said. "What if it was turned around, and it was something personal in her life?"
Gill has apologized.
"I made a statement in a public meeting when referring to negotiations of a maintenance vehicle. My comment in reference to that negotiations [sic] was not meant to be insensitive, anti-Semitic or offend anyone," Gill wrote in a statement. "I have now learned a very valuable lesson on it's [sic] meaning and will never use it again. Moving forward if I hear anyone say it, I will promptly educate them too. I sincerely apologize for my comment."
Regardless, the owner of a Louisville Anti-Fascist, or Antifa, Twitter account is calling for Gill's resignation. The anonymous owner said there are already plans to demonstrate if she doesn't resign.
While Karimi isn't calling for Gill's resignation, she said the councilwoman should "reevaluate her humanity."
"The words you speak becomes the house you live in," Karimi said. "And as leaders, we are responsible for the words that we say."
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