My gut reaction is that it isn’t more prevalent in the south than it is in other parts of the country. I grew up in Northeast TN, so I didn’t even know any Jews growing up. I ever heard anyone say a word against Jews growing up; I also ended up marrying one.
My reason for asking is that my half Jewish son is considering attending college in Mississippi. I don’t know that anyone would even find out about his Jewish background (he identifies as Unitarian Universalist), but I don’t know that anyone would care if they did know. My wife, who also went to college in the Deep South, is less sure. I don’t think she encountered antisemitism, but she was hesitant to tell anyone she was Jewish unless she knew them very well.
Anecdotal: I’ve lived more than half of my 50 years South or Texas and rarely ever personally witnessed it. Mostly like the one kid in school whose dad was KKK. 1979 Pasadena, TX KKK didn’t like anybody, but we thought they were a bunch of racist low brows. I was mostly big city, tho. Ymmv, of course.
Do you have a traditionally Jewish surname? I’m not asking you to respond here, but that would very outwardly present your son’s Jewishness to most everyone he meets. I don’t think he’ll encounter outright “I hate Jews” antisemitism, but he may experience difficulties from sort-of well meaning people like “Oh, we didn’t invite you to go out with us because of the Sabbath!”
I’d be more worried about the leftist organizations on campus than the locals.
Antisemitic incidents of violence are rare in the U.S. and mostly happen where there are lots of Jews because they are random and done by people looking for visible targets.
Antisemitic attitudes are more prevalent in the white-supremacist enclaves of the rural Pacific Northwest and black churches. There are also some old-line rightist conspiracy theorists, who are probably somewhat overrepresented in the South, but just like black churches and people from southern Idaho, are unlikely to be encountered by your son on a college campus.
If he’s looking to network with student government or political organizations, then that’s where it may come into play. Otherwise, for a nonobservant person, it will make no difference at a large university campus.
I was raised in rural west Tennessee, went to college in the northeast, and now live in the pacific northwest. I’ve seen more antisemitic things happen in the NE and PNW than in the South. (I do remember a high school friend’s father using the phrase “he Jewed me down,” but that’s it.) Of course, I think this largely has to do with the fact that there was pretty much no one who was Jewish in the town I grew up in, as opposed to other places I have lived.
No, it isn’t true in general. There aren’t that many Jews in most parts of the South so most people don’t have any reason to feel one way or the other besides what they see on TV. However, there are areas of the South with significant Jewish populations with deep roots. There are about 150,000 - 200,000 Jews in Texas alone which may not sound like a lot but is about the same as the number of Jews in all of Russia and much more than Germany and not even that far behind the UK. New Orleans has a very long lasting and influential Jewish population as do other other very Southern, high society cities like Charleston, SC (Charleston has one of the oldest active synagogues in the U.S.). Have you ever met a Jewish Southern Belle? I have because i went to school with a number of them at Tulane. They are a rare breed but simultaneously very Southern and Jewish.
There is one big demographic fact that gives Jews an advantage in the South over some other regions. Widespread evangelical Christian denominations generally preach a strong pro-Jewish message and maintain that they are still among God’s chosen people even if they missed the boat on the whole Christ thing. At the very least, they also teach that support of Israel and the Jews is mandatory because they control the Holy Land and protect it from the bad people that want to destroy it.
I grew up in the Deep South (Louisiana/East Texas border area) and never heard anything negative about Jews other than the standard tropes about them all being rich and greedy which weren’t necessarily that negative. The only ones that I knew growing up were doctors, lawyers and bankers that were among the best around. Everyone wanted them when they needed something serious because the stereotypes were mostly positive ones at least when it came to professional competence.
That was my thought exactly, even though he’s lived almost all his life below the Mason-Dixon Line. He was born in NY City, though. At a big state school there will always be small groups who don’t fit in with the majority, though.
Since when black churches in general have prevalent anti-Semitic attitudes? I mean sure there are some, but percentage-wise probably not much more than white anti-Semitic churches.
My stepfather and mother have a very stereotypically Jewish last name. They are also very much not Jewish. My stepfather is from Louisiana all the way down and my mother is as Texan as they come. My stepfather is also a college professor so it is fairly common for some Sherlock Holmes types to ask a question about his Jewishness. He has a patient response for it but I don’t think anyone has ever had a bad intent behind the question other than idle curiosity.
I’m not concerned about it, but my wife is a little (she hasn’t said anything to him btw; the only caution she gave him was to remind him that the heat may be an issue for him if he has to attend a summer session).
Black Christianity did not undergo the shift in attitudes towards Jews that Cold War politics around Israel drove in about half of the white churches, and the black nationalist movement was virulently anti-Semitic. Most black churches have, at best, the same attitude about Jews as nineteenth-century white churches; that is, they view them as the killers of Christ and in league with the devil. To what extent this is emphasized varies a lot from church to church, and certainly the drivers of anti-Semitism as it actually affects Jews in America today are mostly not black.
I am not answering the question because I honestly have no idea if it is true or not, but I don’t buy in to this argument. For example, there are virtually no black people in Northern Wisconsin (>1%) but those people are some of the most virulent racists I have ever met in my life.
I think oddly it is African-Americans in cities where neighborhoods butt up to each other that are more prone to being anti-Semitic. The North East probably has it the worst simply as we have the most Jewish people.
This is my experience growing up near such areas and as my wife is Jewish.
Also I was mistaken for being Jewish at one point in the Bronx (near Yankee Stadium), harassed as such and when I said I was actually Italian they left me alone. Very weird experience.
I have a Jewish friend who is from New Orleans. We’re always talking about race and anti-Semitism.
IMHO, most of the stuff she’s experienced is less anti-Semitism and more religious insensitivity. Like, people asking where she goes to church. Or some kid telling her she’s going to burn in hell for not believing in Jesus. In other words, the same kind of stupidity that any non-Christian experiences at least once in their life. It’s just more likely to happen in the South, because Bible Belt.
Being Jewish in the South is a minority experience, no doubt. And I’m sure it has made my friend feel alienated. But it’s not like she’s cowering under any beds with a shotgun. She just has a thicker skin than your typical white Southern belle.
In my experience, most black people don’t give a flying fuck who is Jewish and who isn’t. And if they are anti-Jew, they are also likely anti-white. And they will likely be standing on a street corner with a bow tie and some bean pies. In other words, you will see them from a mile away.
My father has some anti-Semitic tendencies. (I’ve been trying to rehabilitate him for the past decade). He’s from the Midwest.
I agree with Lamar Mundane. In this age of 24/7 global mass media, you don’t need to live next door to a Jew (or a darkie or a gay) to formulate prejudices and negative associations. All it takes is cable television and one close friend or relative who “See there? Look at them people! That’s how they always act! They’s evil, I tell ya!”
I only understand Southern racism and other related 'isms because they are what I grew up with. Racism in the South is very complicated and usually doesn’t reflect what people assume or see in the popular media. There have always been different groups comingling quite closely in the South so there isn’t a general fear or hatred towards ‘the other’. It is more about competition for resources and culture. When racism exists, it is carefully targeted. If you interview the worst example of a Southern racist you can find, you will learn that his dance card is already filled just because of all the blacks and Mexicans that need to be dealt with so there simply isn’t time to be worried about Asians, Jews, or any other smaller minorities that also live there.
I don’t know that much about rural Midwestern racist attitudes in general but, from what I have read, it is based more on white separatist attitudes in which all outsiders are rejected. You can’t do that in the South because blacks alone make up a substantial portion of the population and are already a majority of several major cities.
Jewish people have never been a favored target of any hate groups or in general in the South except for a few instances of KKK groups that hated everyone. Today, they are basically privileged at least in spirit because of the Evangelical Christian movement overwhelming supports them and Israel. The worst I can see is some social difficulties, not because people disfavor Jews, but that they may make some assumptions about aren’t warranted just because they have no experience with it (Will he only date Jewish girls? Is he really wealthy? Does he have to turn off the electricity a day every week?). At least they will know what to expect to find when he finally gets lucky
In all seriousness, I went to Tulane in New Orleans as an undergraduate. It is about 1/3rd Jewish and sometimes called the most distant suburb of NYC because the Jewish culture is so strong. I don’t think any Jewish students there had an issue either on campus, in New Orleans proper or when they did side trips into neighboring Mississippi. Overall crime was a concern at the time but not any Jewish specific issues.
