As we begin to celebrate and commemorate the life of the great Martin Luther King Jr., these chapters were extremely powerful and intriguing to read about how Jewish life integrated into Southern culture. It was particularly interesting to see the relationships that were created between a Southern white major, a Jewish minority, a persecuted black minority. In my Jewish learning experience, I have always leant that the Jews were always a minority that was plagued by persecution by a large majority. However, in the South, blacks were the most targeted racial group and were used as slaves until the end of the Civil War. From the chapter, I learnt that Jews were slave owners, even though it is widely known in the Old Testament that Jews endured hundreds of years in slavery under Egyptian rule. However, a major theme that I was able to obtain from the readings was that Jews tried tirelessly to integrate into the Southern culture and participated in southern practices, including owning slaves. Historically, Jews around the world are known for their tireless efforts to fully integrate into a society foreign to them. Southern Jews took after their predecessors and tried to fully integrate into society, even though the southern society often looked at status through a 'black and white' lens. Although Jews had the same skin as native southerners, they were not granted full rights that whites had, including entry to certain institutions like neighborhoods and social clubs. However, Jews were able to own businesses and became very profitable entrepreneurs in the Southern states.
It was interesting to see that Jews dwelling in the Southern states had extremely varied opinions regarding the black population. Often, white supremacists would compare Jews to the black population. To be treated like white status, Southern Jewish news editors would often use derogatory comparisons to blacks to bolster their own status. A similar phenomenon occurred after blacks were promised equal status as whites. The status of the Jews was in jeopardy and anti-Semitism increased drastically, maybe because of lack of economic prosperity during the Reconstruction era. They supremacists now lacked a scape goat, and Jews in the South became very worried and the population was split in regards to speaking out against Southern racist sentiments.
Such divides were clear with synagogue congregants and their rabbi. Often, a rabbi would speak out against racism in the south, due to a variety of pressure whether it be from the Northern Jewish community or by notables in the black community. Such Jewish institutions and figures were easily targeted through terrorist acts. I understood that speaking out against the supremacist activities were dangerous, but I hadn't known about the vast activities that occurred around the entire South, including multiple synagogue bombings. As a avid synagogue attendee, I am aware of such pressures in the current realm and I was surprised by some of the reactions from the rabbis during that era.
After reading these chapters, I am extremely grateful for the efforts of the late Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights figures to fight for equality, not just for blacks or Jews or any other minority, but for all of humanity. I am extremely privileged to live in a society were minorities like Jews and blacks are accepted, however, there is still much work to be done. It was extremely compelling learning about the history of Jews in the South and middle stance between a white majority and a black minority.
It was interesting to see that Jews dwelling in the Southern states had extremely varied opinions regarding the black population. Often, white supremacists would compare Jews to the black population. To be treated like white status, Southern Jewish news editors would often use derogatory comparisons to blacks to bolster their own status. A similar phenomenon occurred after blacks were promised equal status as whites. The status of the Jews was in jeopardy and anti-Semitism increased drastically, maybe because of lack of economic prosperity during the Reconstruction era. They supremacists now lacked a scape goat, and Jews in the South became very worried and the population was split in regards to speaking out against Southern racist sentiments.
Such divides were clear with synagogue congregants and their rabbi. Often, a rabbi would speak out against racism in the south, due to a variety of pressure whether it be from the Northern Jewish community or by notables in the black community. Such Jewish institutions and figures were easily targeted through terrorist acts. I understood that speaking out against the supremacist activities were dangerous, but I hadn't known about the vast activities that occurred around the entire South, including multiple synagogue bombings. As a avid synagogue attendee, I am aware of such pressures in the current realm and I was surprised by some of the reactions from the rabbis during that era.
After reading these chapters, I am extremely grateful for the efforts of the late Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights figures to fight for equality, not just for blacks or Jews or any other minority, but for all of humanity. I am extremely privileged to live in a society were minorities like Jews and blacks are accepted, however, there is still much work to be done. It was extremely compelling learning about the history of Jews in the South and middle stance between a white majority and a black minority.