Transcript Chapter One Sociological Perspectives on Social Problems

Chapter 14
Jewish Americans
Jewish People: Race,
Religion
or Ethnic Group?
• Jews are a subordinate group
– Unequal treatment
– Share a cultural history that distinguishes
them from the dominant group
– Ascribed status or involuntary status
– Group solidarity
– In-group marriage
• Jewish identity among Jews is based
on a shared culture - thus Jews are
best classified as an ethnic minority
• The trend in the United States among
Jews has been toward Judaization lessening of the significance of
religion and an increase in culture
as the bond among Jews
Immigration of Jews
to the United States
• First Jewish migration occurred
around 1654 from Spain and Portugal
(Refugees)
• Largest Jewish migration occurred
around the turn of nineteenth century
• Immigration Act of 1920 reduced
Jewish immigration
• Recent immigration has been from
Israel, Soviet Union and Iran
Figure 14-3 Intergroup Relations Continuum
Anti-Semitism Past and
Present
• Origins of anti-Semitism
• Blamed for the crucifixion of Jesus
Christ
• Formation of negative stereotypes
over the years
• Fringe-of-values theory by Gordon
Allport (1979) and the formation of
negative stereotypes
• Jewish group identity as a means of
adapting to a hostile environment and
in-group virtues becoming out-group
vices
• Discrimination as a source of antiSemitism
Holocaust
• Holocaust - state-sponsored
systematic extermination of European
Jews by Nazi Germany
• German policy and the restriction of
the rights of Jews
• Between 1933 - 1945 two-thirds of
Europe's Jewish population were
killed
Unites States AntiSemitism: Past
• Colonial America and anti-Semitism
–Peter Stuyvesant’s attempt to expel
Jews from what is New York city
today
• The 1920’s and 1930’s saw an
increase in anti- Semitism
Unites States AntiSemitism: Past
• Perpetuation of false propaganda - In
the forged documents “Protocols of
the Elders of Zion”
• The publications of the Protocols and
anti-Semitism
Differences Between
Anti-Semitism in the
United States and Europe
• First - United States government
never promoted anti-Semitic policies
• Second - anti-Semitism was not
institutionalized in the United States
• Third - Jews did not develop a
defensive ideology in order to
survive
Contemporary AntiSemitism
• Anti-Defamation League
–Monitors anti-Semitic incidents
–Rise in numbers in 1990’s and 2001
• American Jews and the relationship
with Israel
Contemporary AntiSemitism
• Source of unity and identity
• Zionism - and anti-Semitism
• African Americans and Anti-Semitism
– Fewer anti-Semitic and more anti-White
institutions
Figure 14-4 Anti-Semitic Incidents, 1980-2002
Position of Jewish
Americans
• Declining discrimination in the
business world
– Jewish MBAs and job opportunities
– Rising rapidly up the corporate hierarchy
– Higher salaries
• Declining poverty and the invisible
poor
Education
• Judaic religion and the emphasis on
formal schooling
– Emphasis on education
– Higher educational attainment
• Prejudice at school
Organizational Activity
• United Jewish Appeal - founded in
(1939) raises funds for humanitarian
causes
• American Jewish Committee founded in (1906) to improve JewishGentile relations
• American Jewish Congress - founded
in (1918) to improve Jewish-Gentile
relations
• B’nai B’rith - founded in (1843) to
promote cultural programs (ADL)
Political Activity
• Jewish voters and the Democratic
party
• Political offices
• Politics and the New Left
• Politics and Israel
Religious Life
• Orthodox:
• Conservative:
7%
29%
• Reconstructionist
• Reform:
2%
29%
• Just Jewish:
33%
The Orthodox Tradition
• Orthodox tradition
– Torah
• Life is conducted according to
tradition and rituals
– Kashrut - food
The Reform Tradition
• Very religious
• Changed traditions to reflect social
changes
• Conservative Judaism – in between
Orthodox and Reform
Jewish Identity
• Yiddishkait - Jewish Americans and a
sense of peoplehood (Jewishness)
• Jewish women and Jewish identity
– Halakha
Family
• Delayed marriage
• Single life has become increasingly
more acceptable
• Declining birth rate, acceptability of
childlessness and rising divorce rate
• Decline in intergenerational roles in
the family
• Decline in Jewishness in daily live
Figure 14-5 Generational Patterns by Denomination
Role of Religion
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Judaism and religious diversity
Traditional Jewish Law
Religion and marginality
The role of culture
Maintaining a sense of peoplehood