From Margins to Center: Jews and Whiteness in America

From being a minority suffering religious and ethnic discrimination in eastern Europe, the Jews who came to America underwent a process of integration towards becoming white Americans. Taking as its point of departure the fact that Jews have not always been considered “white people,” this class will explore the history of the Jews in America through the following lenses: How did white America’s attitude towards the Jews develop and change? How did American Jews negotiate their attitude to race and their relations with non-white minorities? What roles did antisemitism play in these processes?