The Treyvon Martin and Ferguson murders have once again made me think about growing up Jewish in America. I'm lucky enough to never need to be frightened for "walking while black." But I do vividly remember my mother telling me something (from the time I was a baby) that I have always remembered : "Jews" she said, "even in America, live in a country at the whim of the majority culture. At any time (especially when things become difficult economically and politically in that country) 'permission' can suddenly disappear. Sometimes it's an unexpected, arbitrary withdrawal (which usually manifests itself on the individual level, with a surprise anti-semitic remark like 'Jew him down' slipping out from someone you previously felt comfortable with) but most dangerously, it's withdrawn systematically amid hysteria by the surrounding culture when it feels threatened, no matter the reason. So Denny, you may believe you are fully acculturated and accepted in America, but you're not viewed that way. You're not viewed as a Jewish American. You're viewed as a Jew living in America. ALWAYS be vigilant no matter how 'comfortable' you may feel."
My wife Pat (who is not Jewish) understands this phenomenon perfectly and describes it as follows: "Being Jewish is feeling welcome but not really safe." She is exactly right. If you think the advice my mother gave me is paranoid hyperbole (based on the fluke behavior of countries in the world other than the United States) you are dead wrong. I recently read a book about something that happened in our country's history that I did not know about until a few years ago, and which I bet hardly anyone reading this blog has ever heard of. This book is about the fragility of my welcome. General Order No. 11 was the title of an order issued by Major-General Ulysses S. Grant on December 17, 1862, during the American Civil War. It became notorious for its instruction for the expulsion of all Jews in his military district comprising areas of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky. The order was issued as part of a campaign against a black market in Southern cotton, which Grant thought was being run "mostly by Jews and other unprincipled traders." Grant later claimed it had been drafted by a subordinate and that he had signed it without reading. The order has been described as the "worst official anti-Semitic act in American history."
Where I grew up the saying "Jew him down" was a complimentary term that meant an ability to be good at negotiating and coming out on top.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that Grant was anti - Semitic.
ReplyDeleteI did not know that US Grant was anti-Jewish. I do not use the term "anti-Semitic" because "anti-Semitic" has become a term for anti-Jewish and is applied by many to Arabs, who are also Semites. Many Jews and many Moslems are not Semites, but suffer discrimination because of their religion. In many instances the term anti-Semitism is used when applied to Jews who are not Semites, because the term "Semite" has inaccurately been applied to all Jews, whether they are of Semitic background or not.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a household where we wouldn't have even considered using a phrase such as "Jew him down." We weren't allowed to say we "hated" something, we had to say "I don't care for it." Growing up gay in a rural area, I can sort of relate to what you write about not feeling safe, but I'm aware it's not quite the same thing.
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