Custom «The Jewish Fraternity» Essay Paper Sample

This is an article on Jewish community in the United States. The article will explore on why Jews were discriminated against. The presence of Jews in the United States has been there since colonial era. In 19^th century, United States experienced a large number of Jews coming from Germany who later settled in the cities. One of the worst hit cities was New York, following the movement of refugees in the United States in the Second World War. At the present, the number of Jews in the United States is estimated at five million and this is experiencing decline due to most of them getting married to other people who are not Jews (Diner, 1999). Although some prominent people like George Washington recognized the Jews for the role they played in search for independence, not everybody was happy about their presence in the United States. For instance, in some states, Jews were not allowed to work in a public office or take part in voting. This was later stopped, following enactment of a bill that dealt a blow on such restrictions.

In history, Jews have suffered discrimination and contempt which has resulted to most of them being persecuted and expelled from different places. The discrimination against Jews in the United States has been attributed to so many factors. Although historians have always attempted to make explanations on this, the reasons for prejudice against Jews remains contradicted. For instance, in the United States, Jews faced contempt because of being different from the rest of the population (Gonzales, 1993). They faced persecution for the simple fact that, they could not assimilate. But with all this happening, it appeared strange given that they were not allowed to assimilate. For this reason, Jews settled in undesirable places like in ghettos. The situation was not only like this in the United States, but also throughout Europe.

Jews in the United States faced prejudice even when they attempted to integrate. The laws were put in place to prohibit Jews who had adopted American culture from continuing to participate in any activity in the community. For instance, in case of any problem arising in the society, all fingers pointed at the Jews (Diner, 1999). Due to this, the Jews were always under pressure to leave the country and look for settlement elsewhere. It is not surprising that, upon the break out of a plague in the 14^th century that claimed lives of almost one-third of Europe's population, the blame was shifted on Jews. This was no different from United States where Jews were being blamed even because of economic problems.

In a country where majority of citizens are Christians, Jews have always been overlooked for not receiving Christ as their savior. In yet another explanation, a portion of Christians in the United States discriminate Jews for the belief that the killed the savior (Gonzales, 1993). Although the bible differs with this belief, there is still hatred for Jews in the United States. Race has seen many Jews being discriminated against. Due to their small population, there was a feeling that Jews were unrecognized race and therefore should be wiped out. However, lack of uniformity has always kept them away from harm. For instance, there are Jews who are black, white and of Asian origin.

From a cultural perspective, I must admit that I don't identify with the Jews. I belong to the mainstream culture in the United States. The mainstream culture is generally accepted in any given society thus making it dominant (Diner, 1999). As things stand in the United States, Jewish culture is not a mainstream, for the simple fact that not many people normally identify with it. Going by the different types of discriminations mentioned above, it goes without mentioning that, the minority are mostly the people who fall victims. However, the fight against discrimination is as old as man himself. Although tremendous improvement has been made, it remains to be seen whether discrimination of the minority in the society will ever end.