A Santa Rosa County commissioner is defending his use of an antisemitic slur, claiming the offensive phrase was not problematic because it was not directed at a Jewish person and was simply “common vernacular” he learned during childhood.
Calls for Sam Parker”s resignation have mounted after he was filmed using the antisemitic phrase “Jew you down” while allegedly pressuring a shop owner for a discount, the Pensacola News Journal reported.
Security camera footage of the incident was shown to the County Board of Commissioners on Monday by gun store owner Chris Smith during the commission”s public forum.
The video shows Parker using the antisemitic trope when asking Smith for a better price. He also asks the owner, “What happened to my discount?”
“I guess if we would have brought cash you wouldn’t have had to charge me tax,” Parker exclaims.
Smith called for Parker to resign, questioning his ethics, and charging that he was a hypocrite for asking to not be charged sales tax while supporting raising sales tax on the public.
“You’re a sitting county commissioner asking a local small business to perform an illegal act by not charging a sales tax if you pay cash,” Smith said during the meeting.
Defending himself, Parker doubled down on his use of the antisemitic term, claiming it “”was not an ethnic slur.”
“I’m not referring to the Jewish community. I used that term as an adjective, as a descriptive term of bargaining them down,” he said in a clip of the meeting posted to social media. “The person I said it to knew it, I think you or anyone who”s watching that knows it, so yes, that is not an ethnic slur&hellip I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Several members of the public spoke at the forum, admonishing Parker for using the offensive trope, according to the report. Deborah Harsher provided to the meeting the American Jewish Committee’s definition of the term, which described it as “an insulting, antisemitic misrepresentation of Jewish behavior that plays into the trope of Jews as greedy money handlers who are unwilling to part with their earnings.”
Asked on Tuesday by the news outlet to explain his use of the hateful term, Parker again defended himself, claiming the people criticizing him were political opponents.
“I wasn’t referencing anybody of a certain religion. That was just common vernacular I heard growing up. If anybody wants to go around looking to get offended they can get offended,” he said.
The StopAntisemitism organization slammed county officials for not taking action.
“Hey Santa Rosa County – kindly explain to your low level bigot Sam Parker that “Jew them down” is in deed an antisemitic slur used to generalize Jews as cheap and always looking for the best deal. How is someone as ignorant as this man serving in a commissioner”s role?!”