A Sense of Place: Jews, Blacks, and White Gentiles in the American South

ESSAY A Sense ofPlace Jews, Blacks, and White Gentiles in the American South by David Goldfield s quintessential outsiders, Jews have developed a sixth sense in taking cues on public behavior from the host society. Over the centuries, their successful assimilation and at times even their survival have often depended on blending in widi the Gentile population; they have had to balance the pursuit of their culture and religion with the necessity ofmaintaining a low profile. This tension between preservation and assimilation has lessened in recent decades in the United States, but it is still a part ofJewish life in the South. For the South remains the most conservative and evangelical Protestant region of the country, as well as the section in which rural culture has the strongest hold. Jewish religious, social, and settlement traditions are very different from those ofthe dominant culture, andJewish success in the South prior to and even to some degree after the civil rights movement depended on minimizing these differences. TheJewish "place" in southern life—their role as perceived by white and black Gentiles—has been a key factor in determining Jewish-Gentile relations in the South. As the historically dominant group in southern society, white Gentiles became accustomed to "placing" individuals as a way of ordering a chaotic and often violent region. Placing drew upon a long list of characteristics including race, family name, birthplace, religion, occupation, and education. Placing also depended on conformity to the customs of a given rural area, town, or city at a particular point in time. To know one's place and to act accordingly was important for getting along in the South, especially before the civil rights era. Race remained a fundamental element in placing individuals. Although white southerners distinguished blacks by color, status, gender, and adherence to racial etiquette, African Americans occupied the lowest place in southern society regardless ofother variables. White Gentiles usually viewedJews as white, butJews initially failed to meet most of the other criteria ofplacing. Once they established themselves, however, and proved their fealty to local customs, Jews began to move up on the place list, though seldom ifever to the topmost rung. Mobility for Jews was possible, even probable; for blacks, rare, if ever. 58 Jewish-owned Rich and Bros. Dry Goods Store in the 1880s, Atlanta, Georgia. Courtesy ofthe Atlanta History Center. A caveat here:Jewish southerners were and are a diverse lot, despite their relatively small numbers. Sephardim in the colonial era, German Jews in the nineteenth century, and Eastern European (mainly Russian) Jews thereafter brought distinctive traditions that did not always blend into one happy community. Denominational preferences—Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform—further divided southern Jewry. Southern white and black Gentiles also included distinct social, denominational, and ethnic groups. These variations qualify some of the generalizations in this essay. But, as journalists and historians have noted, altiiough there are many Souths, there is also One South, a common set ofassumptions revolving around race, religion, and, most important, history. An individual's place within southern society originates from those common assumptions. A Sense ofPlace 5 9 AMBIVALENCE AND ASSIMILATION In a region where . ? , At first glance, few groups seem more out of place in the roots have meant Cuui r · c -t/ u South than Jews. Centuries of restrictions in Europe have agreat deal,JeWS made them an urban and mercantile people. Southerners were from nowhere. have cxalted ruralufe andlookedwith suspicion on cities J and mercantile pursuits that they have associated with .................... modernism, exploitation, and alien ideas. For the past century, the South has also been the nation's most evangelical Protestant region, and, consequentiy, southernJews have been either prime targets for conversion or permanent outsiders. Finally, in a region where roots have meant a great deal, Jews were from nowhere. They were a people without a country, wandering the earth to find a home anywhere, yet at home nowhere, seemingly loyal only to themselves. But in the South, things are seldom as diey seem. While the South has not always been a promised land for theJewish people, it has been a hospitable region for Jewish aspirations and security. Rarely comprising more than one percent of the region's population at...