The Death of American Antisemitism (review)

Despite its misleading title, this is a worthwhile book. Antisemitism in the United States is not dead, but it is a declining phenomenon. American Jewish defense and community relations organizations, however, focus most of their efforts, and spend most of their money, on combating a diminishing problem. Their chorus is that they must be ever vigilant, and to some extent, this is true. However, as Blakeslee points out, American Jews have other worthy and serious concerns like Jewish education and continuity which deserve priority. He questions, and by so questioning he states his position, whether so much of American Jewish money should be devoted to fighting the battles of yesteryear.

Regardless of the stance one takes on these issues, Blakeslee’s arguments are well worth noting. He starts the book with brief summaries of American Jewish history and antisemitism; then he examines and differentiates between and among the major defense and community relations organizations: the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League, and NCRAC (National Community Relations Advisory Councils). (In some communities NCRAC is referred to as the JCRC [the Jewish Community Relations Council], while in still others it is subordinated within the framework of the local Jewish Federations.) Another section of the work explores three specific incidents of antisemitism, all of which focus on attitudes of African Americans.

Jewish defense organizations began in response to attitudes of, and hostilities by, white American Christians, who no longer appear so threatening. It is ironic, therefore, that one of the groups that Jews wanted to defend, African Americans, vent their anger on their old allies. More bigoted Americans and foreigners who are extremely hostile to people of other cultures are either ignored or are targeted less than Jews. Criticizing Jews, however, insures Blacks significant news coverage and a quick retort; criticizing Italians, Poles, or Koreans brings a diffuse response. Moreover, criticizing Jews has a resonance in Christian communities where respectable individuals who would never utter a bigoted word in public are secretly gleeful when they read of the attacks.

Blakeslee accuses unidentified “American Jewish leaders” for having their minds rooted in another era—when antisemitism was a major problem. To continue exploring the issue is “safe” for the administrators of the different JAOs (Jewish American Organizations) even though the reasons that the organizations were developed no longer warrant the attention that they once did. For Blakeslee, this is squandering millions of dollars on what he characterizes as “a disappearing threat” (p. 146).

There is enough information in this book to provide data for an intelligent person to see what has happened, why it has happened, and why the author argues as he does. Blakeslee is particularly good at describing and differentiating between and among the slightly different goals and purposes of the defense organizations. There are some minor errors (there was no presidential election in 1922 [p. 98], Leo Frank was not “exonerated of all charges in the aftermath of a 1982 death-bed confession by another employee” [p. 81]), but these do not diminish the contribution that Blakeslee has made. He has raised important questions that many American Jews will find disturbing, but they should reflect upon them anyway.