Mark Anderson Writes

  The Shona, "Maswina," and the Question of Filth The term "Maswina" (or Amasvina) is a real derogatory slur used primarily by Ndebele speakers in Zimbabwe to refer to the Shona people. It derives from the Shona word "svina" or "tsvina," meaning dirt, filth, or something dirty. Historically, Ndebele raiders and rulers applied it to the Shona groups they dominated or fought, portraying them as unclean or inferior — sometimes linked to perceptions of how Shona communities lived, hid food in caves during raids, or handled entrails when butchering animals. Over time, colonial observers and settlers adapted variations of the term into "Mashona," which became the broad label for the Shona ethnic cluster. While some Shona dismiss it as mere tribal rivalry from the 19th-century Matabele era, the slur persists in ethnic tensions and carries the explicit accusation of dirtiness. It is not a neutral descriptor but an insult rooted in inter-group ...

  This famous line comes from a memorable early episode of The Sopranos (Season 1, Episode 3 – “Denial, Anger, Acceptance”). In the scene, a young Hasidic Jewish man named Ariel proudly tells Tony Soprano and Paulie about the ancient Jewish stand at Masada, where 900 Jews held off 15,000 Roman soldiers and chose death before enslavement. He then asks defiantly: “And the Romans? Where are they now?” Tony, unfazed and menacing in a bathrobe, shoots back: “You’re looking at them, asshole.” The exchange is raw, funny, and loaded with historical irony. It perfectly sets the stage for a deeper question: Were the Jews actually defeated by Rome? When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was recently asked what he was reading, he replied without hesitation: a book by historian Barry Strauss about the long conflict between Jews and Rome. Netanyahu added a telling remark: “We lost that one… I think we have to win the next one.” The comment references two centuries of Jewish revolts a...