Anti-Semitism in South Park

Anti-Semitism in South Park is, like abuse and trauma and transphobia, a common subject of fan interest and controversy.
These conversations tend to naturally focus on Kyle Broflovski, who is portrayed as both an ethnic and religious Jewish individual, and Eric Cartman, his rival who espouses anti-semitic viewpoints.
==Series Context==
Within the context of South Park, 
==Viewer Reception==
Articles such as "Anti-Semitism in the playground" have deconstructed South Park and blame it for normalizing anti-semitism in everyday life. 
A popular tumblr post with over 46,000 notes suggests:South Park normalized anti-semitism for a whole generation of young people and tbh I think it helped foster the rebirth of nazismHowever, other articles such as "Why does PewDiePie get ‘attacked’ and South Park gets a pass for anti-Semitic jokes?" argue that the nature of South Park as a satirical construction that targets equally is what makes it acceptable.
==Relationship with Fandom==
===Kyman controversies===
The fact that Kyle is a victim of not only bullying but bigotry and oppression based on his Jewish identity at Cartman's hands has always been a criticism of the ship, but received renewed attention in recent years as the seriousness of anti-semitism and Nazism has seen renewed cultural discourse in the United States, such as in Vox and The Outline. 
Many who feel less strongly about Cartman and Kyle's friendship or rivalry otherwise see that Cartman's status as a Nazi supporter and Kyle's status as a Jewish person who would be victimized by those policies and ideas make the ship more problematic than most. The Final Solution, or elimination of the Jewish people, is a key structural element in Nazi political ideology, and lead to the deaths of over six million during the Holocaust, an effort to enact these and enforce beliefs. Some do not find it moral to ship an individual who believes in the total elimination of another group with a member of the group they seek to eliminate; in this context, Kyman seems indefensible, and Kyman supporters can be seen as ignorant of or enabling to Nazi ideology and fascism.
The common point of defense to this criticism is to suggest that Cartman, being a ten-year-old boy, is not morally equivalent to an active and adult supporter of the Nazi movement, and that we have not seen him interact with Nazi individuals or support them, and that his anti-semitism may therefore be seen as his childishness or insensitivity to Kyle, rather than an expression of sincere ideological beliefs. This often leads to the suggestion that Cartman's behavior is therefore not threatening or harmful towards Kyle's safety, despite some episodes such as "The Passion of the Jew" suggesting to the contrary. These fans often express a belief that a teenage or adult Cartman will be be better-adjusted and hold fewer bigoted views; however, this cannot be guaranteed and his canon representation is nonetheless bigoted.
There are both Jewish supporters of the Kyman pairing, often invoked against this argument, and criticism from Jewish individuals who find it uncomfortable.
==External Links==
Category:Discourse
Category:Under Construction