Antisemitism in the United States

==American viewpoints on Jews and antisemitism==
{{Main|Antisemitic trope|Racial antisemitism|Religious antisemitism|Stereotypes of Jews}}

===Roots of American attitudes towards Jews and Jewish history in America===
{{main|History of antisemitism in the United States}}
Krefetz (1985) asserts that antisemitism in the 1980s seems "rooted less in [[Religious antisemitism|religion]] or contempt and more rooted in envy, jealousy and fear" of Jewish affluence, and the hidden power of "[[Economic antisemitism|Jewish money]]".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Krefetz |first=Gerald |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/8903309 |title=Jews and money : the myths and the reality |date=1982 |publisher=Ticknor & Fields |others=Mazal Holocaust Collection |isbn=0-89919-129-0 |location=New Haven |oclc=8903309}}</ref> Historically, antisemitic attitudes and rhetoric have tended to increase whenever the United States has faced a serious economic crisis,<ref>[[Michelle Goldberg|Goldberg, Michelle]]. ''Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism''. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006. pp. 186-187.</ref> as well as during moments of political and social uncertainty and fear, such as with the rise of [[Nativism (politics)|nativist]] anti-immigration organizing in the early twentieth century, the emergence of the [[Nazism|Nazi]]-affiliated [[German-American Bund]] in the 1930s, and the [[Anti-communism|anti-Communist]] political movement during the [[Red Scare]].<ref>Richard Frankel, "One Crisis Behind? Rethinking Antisemitic Exceptionalism in the United States and Germany." ''American Jewish History'' 97.3 (July 2013): 235-258.</ref> Academic David Greenberg has written in ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'', "Extreme [[anti-communism]] always contained an antisemitic component: Radical, alien Jews, in their [[demonology]], orchestrated the Communist conspiracy." He also has argued that, in the years which followed [[World War II]], some groups on "[[Radical right (United States)|the American right]] remained closely tied to the unvarnished antisemites of the '30s who railed against the 'Jew Deal'", a bigoted term which was used against the [[New Deal]] measures of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]].<ref name=slate>{{cite news|last1=Greenberg|first1=David|title=Nixon and the Jews. Again.|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history_lesson/2002/03/nixon_and_the_jews_again.html |access-date=August 29, 2018|work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|date=March 12, 2002}}</ref> American antisemites have viewed the fraudulent text ''[[The Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]'' as a real reference to a supposed Jewish cabal which was out to subvert and ultimately destroy the U.S.<ref name=beck>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/feb/02/far-right-glenn-beck|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=31 January 2015|date=2 February 2011|title=Glenn Beck and the echoes of Charles Coughlin|first=Paul|last=Harris}}</ref> Both the association of Jews with Communism and the fixation on a Jewish cabal purported in ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' are conspiracies transplanted to the American context from European modernity: in a moment of economic revolution and socialist politics rising in contexts across Europe, conservative leaders from Christian Russia to interwar Great Britain manipulated a public fear of [[Jewish Bolshevism]] to scapegoat Jewish populations for strategic political gain.<ref>Hanebrink, Paul. ''A Specter Haunting Europe: The Myth of Judeo-Bolshevism''. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2018. pp. 11-20.</ref>

The "[[Great Replacement]]" theme, a version of the broader [[white genocide conspiracy theory]], was stressed by people who highlighted the supposed threat of [[American Jews|Jews]] and other [[Immigration to the United States|immigrants]] replacing [[Americans]] who were born in the country.<ref>Andrew S. Winston, "'Jews will not replace us!': Antisemitism, Interbreeding and Immigration in Historical Context." ''American Jewish History'' 105.1 (2021): 1-24.</ref> In the 1920s and 1930s, antisemitic activists were led by [[Henry Ford#Antisemitism and The Dearborn Independent|Henry Ford]] and other figures like [[Charles Lindbergh]], [[William Dudley Pelley]], [[Charles Coughlin]] and [[Gerald L. K. Smith]], and some of them were also members of organizations like the [[America First Committee]], the [[Christian Nationalist Crusade]], the [[German American Bund]], the [[Ku Klux Klan]] and the [[Silver Legion of America]]. They promulgated [[Antisemitic canard|canards]] and [[List of conspiracy theories#Antisemitism|various interrelated conspiracy theories]] that widely spread the fear that, through an evil transnational network, Jews were working for the destruction or replacement of [[white Americans]] along with the fear that Jews were working for the destruction or replacement of [[Christianity in the United States]].<ref>See Andrew S. Winston, "'Jews will not replace us!': Antisemitism, Interbreeding and Immigration in Historical Context." ''American Jewish History'' 105.1 (2021): 1-24. at p. 6.</ref><ref>Leonard Dinnerstein, ''Anti-Semitism in America'' (1994) pp 78-127.</ref>

===Tropes and stereotypes===
{{main|Antisemitic trope|Stereotypes of Jews}}

The most persistent form of [[antisemitism]] has consisted of a series of widely circulating [[Antisemitic trope|tropes]] and [[Stereotypes of Jews|stereotypes]] in which [[Jews]] are portrayed as being socially, religiously, and economically unacceptable to American life, because of their inferiority to white Christian society or because of conspiratorial thinking in which Jews are accused of plotting to undermine the racial and economic hierarchies which make up the [[Historical racial and ethnic demographics of the United States|historical fabric]] of [[Society of the United States|American society]]. As a whole, the Jewish people were looked down upon. They were made to feel unwanted, they were marginalized by American society and they were considered a menace to the United States.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=2006|page=589|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=we2KvdT3zOsC&pg=PA589|isbn=978-0253346858}}</ref>

Martin Marger wrote, "A set of distinct and consistent negative stereotypes, some of which can be traced as far back as the [[Middle Ages]] in [[Antisemitism in Europe|Europe]], has been applied to [[Jews]]."<ref>{{cite book|title=Race and Ethnic Relations: American and Global Perspectives|first=Martin N.|last=Marger|publisher=Cengage Learning|year=2008|page=3234|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TXP78beGTpcC&q=Jews+money+antisemitism&pg=PA324|quote=It is the connection of Jews with money, however, that appears to be the sine qua non of anti-Semitism.|isbn=9780495504368}}</ref>
David Schneder wrote, "Three large clusters of traits are part of the Jewish stereotype (Wuthnow, 1982). First, [American] Jews are seen as being powerful and manipulative. Second, they are accused of dividing their loyalties between the United States and Israel. A third set of traits concerns Jewish materialistic values, aggressiveness, clannishness."<ref>{{cite book|title=The psychology of stereotyping|first=David J.|last=Schneider|publisher=Guilford Press|year=2004|page=461|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VuHFFpZCg-QC&pg=PA461|isbn=9781572309296}}</ref>

Stereotypes of Jewish people share some of the same content as [[stereotypes of Asians]]: perceived disloyalty, power, intelligence, and dishonesty overlap. The similarity between the content of stereotypes of Jews and the content of stereotypes of Asians may stem from the fact that many immigrant Jews and many immigrant Asians both developed a merchant role, a role which was also historically held by many [[Indian diaspora in Southeast Africa|Indians in East Africa]], where the content of stereotypes of them resembles the content of [[Stereotypes of East Asians in the United States|stereotypes of Asians]] and [[American Jews|Jews in the United States]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The handbook of social psychology, Volume 2|pages=380–381|year=1998}}</ref>

Some of the [[antisemitic trope]]s which have been cited by the [[Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith|Anti-Defamation League]] (ADL) in its studies of U.S. social trends include the claims that "Jews have too much power in the business world," "Jews are more willing to use shady practices to get what they want," and "Jews always like to be at the head of things." Another issue that garners attention is the assertion that Jews have an excessive amount of influence on [[American cinema]] and [[American news media|news media]]. Put together, these lines of thinking about Jews demonstrate a common trend in the history of both American and global antisemitism—the inflation of stereotypes of Jews into a theory about how power (politics, economics, media, etc.) functions in society, an irrational theory that deflects responsibility for social ills away from actual authorities and leaders and onto minority Jewish communities.<ref name=November/>

In contemporary [[alt-right]] and right-wing circles, these tropes of power-hungry Jews sometimes manifest through coded references to "globalists," accusations that liberal agendas are the sole product of prominent Jews, and conspiracy theories (such as [[QAnon]]) that can be linked to the medieval [[blood libel]] against Jews.<ref>{{cite web|title=QAnon's Antisemitism and What Come's Next|date=2021-09-17|website=Anti-Defamation League|url=https://www.adl.org/resources/reports/qanons-antisemitism-and-what-comes-next}}</ref>

===Statistics of American viewpoints and analysis===
{{Further|Antisemitism in the United States in the 21st century}}
Polls and studies point to a steady decrease in antisemitic attitudes, beliefs, and manifestations among the American public.<ref name=November/><ref name="Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism">{{cite web|title=The Resuscitation of Anti-Semitism: An American Perspective - An Interview with Abraham Foxman|url=http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-13.htm|work=[[Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs]]|access-date=24 October 2013}}</ref> A 1992 survey by the [[Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith|Anti-Defamation League]] (ADL) showed that about 20% of Americans—between 30 and 40 million adults—held antisemitic views, a considerable decline from the total of 29% found in 1964. However, another survey by the same organization concerning antisemitic incidents showed that the curve has risen without interruption since 1986.<ref name="Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism"/>

====2005 survey====
The number of Americans holding antisemitic views declined markedly six years later when another ADL study classified only 12 percent of the population—between 20 and 25 million adults, as "most antisemitic." Confirming the findings of previous surveys, both studies also found that African Americans were significantly more likely than whites to hold antisemitic views, with 34 percent of blacks classified as "most antisemitic," compared to 9 percent of whites in 1998.<ref name="Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism"/>
The 2005 Survey of American Attitudes Towards Jews in America, a national poll of 1,600 American adults conducted in March 2005, found that 14% of Americans—or nearly 35 million adults—hold views about Jews that are "unquestionably antisemitic," compared to 17% in 2002, In 1998, the number of Americans with hardcore antisemitic beliefs had dropped to 12% from 20% in 1992.

The 2005 survey found "35 percent of foreign-born [[Hispanics]] (down from 44% [in 2002])" and 36 percent of [[African-American]]s hold strong antisemitic beliefs, four times more than the 9 percent for whites."<ref name="2005-ADL-survey">{{cite web|title=ADL Survey: Antisemitism In America Remains Constant; 14 Percent Of Americans Hold 'Strong' Antisemitic Beliefs|url=http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASUS_12/4680_12.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207193710/https://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASUS_12/4680_12.htm|archive-date=7 February 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The 2005 Anti-Defamation League survey includes data on [[Hispanic]] attitudes, with 29% being most antisemitic (as opposed as 9% for whites and 36% for blacks), being born in the United States lessened the prevalence of that attitude: 35% of foreign-born Hispanics and only 19% of those born in the US.<ref name="2005-ADL-survey" />

The survey findings come at a time of increased antisemitic activity in America. The 2004 ADL Audit of Antisemitic Incidents reported that antisemitic incidents reached their highest level in nine years. A total of 1,821 antisemitic incidents were reported in 2004, an increase of 17% over the 1,557 incidents reported during 2003.<ref>{{Cite press release|url=http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASUS_12/4671_12.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 14, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060214141101/https://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASUS_12/4671_12.htm|date=April 4, 2005|title=ADL Audit: Antisemitic Incidents At Highest Level in Nine Years}}</ref> "What concerns us is that many of the gains we had seen in building a more tolerant and accepting America seem not to have taken hold as firmly as we had hoped," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "While there are many factors at play, the findings suggest that antisemitic beliefs endure and resonate with a substantial segment of the population, nearly 35 million people."

====After 2005====
In 2007 an [[ABC News]] report recounted that past ABC polls across several years have tended to find that about 6% of Americans self-report prejudice against Jews as compared to about 25% being against [[Arab Americans]] and about 10% against [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic Americans]]. The report also remarked that a full 34% of Americans reported having "some racist feelings" in general as a self-description.<ref name=abc>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/images/US/1048a1Hispanics.pdf|title=Aquí Se Habla Español – and Two-Thirds Don't Mind|work=[[ABC News]]|date=Oct 8, 2007|access-date=Dec 20, 2013}}</ref>

A 2009 study which was titled "Modern Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israeli Attitudes", published in the ''[[Journal of Personality and Social Psychology]]'' in 2009, tested a new theoretical model of antisemitism among Americans in the Greater New York area with three experiments. The research team's theoretical model proposed that [[mortality salience]] (reminding people that they will someday die) increases antisemitism and that antisemitism is often expressed as anti-Israel attitudes. The first experiment showed that mortality salience led to higher levels of antisemitism and lower levels of support for Israel. The study's methodology was designed to tease out antisemitic attitudes that are concealed by polite people. The second experiment showed that mortality salience caused people to perceive Israel as very important, but did not cause them to perceive any other country this way. The third experiment showed that mortality salience led to a desire to punish Israel for human rights violations but not to a desire to punish Russia or India for identical human rights violations. According to the researchers, their results "suggest that Jews constitute a unique cultural threat to many people's worldviews, that antisemitism causes hostility to Israel, and that hostility to Israel may feed back to increase antisemitism." Furthermore, "those claiming that there is no connection between antisemitism and hostility toward Israel are wrong."<ref>Modern Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israeli Attitudes, Florette Cohen, Department of Psychology, The College of Staten Island, City University New York; [[Lee Jussim]], Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick; Kent D. Harber, Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Newark; Gautam Bhasin, Department of Counseling, Columbia Teacher's College, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2009, Vol. 97, No. 2, 290–306 [http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/97/2/290.html psycnet.apa.org]</ref>

The 2011 ''Survey of American Attitudes Toward Jews in America'' released by the ADL found that the recent [[Late-2000s recession|world economic recession]] increased some antisemitic viewpoints among Americans. [[Abraham H. Foxman]], the organization's national director, argued, "It is disturbing that with all of the strides we have made in becoming a more tolerant society, antisemitic beliefs continue to hold a vice-grip on a small but not insubstantial segment of the American public." Specifically, the polling found that 19% of Americans answered "probably true" to the assertion that "Jews have too much control/influence on Wall Street" while 15% concurred with the related statement that Jews seem "more willing to use shady practices" in business. Nonetheless, the survey generally reported positive attitudes for most Americans, the majority of those who were surveyed expressed [[philo-Semitic]] sentiments such as 64% agreeing that Jews have contributed much to U.S. social culture.<ref name="adl-poll"/>

President [[Donald Trump]] declared himself to be a supporter of Israel and American Jews. Trump signed the [[Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism]].<ref>David N. Myers, "The Perils of Naming: On Donald Trump, Jews, and Antisemites," ''Journal of Holocaust Research'' (2021) 35:2, 154-162, DOI:10.1080/25785648.2021.1899511</ref> However, a 2019 survey by the Jewish Electorate Institute found that 73% of American Jews feel less secure since the [[election of Donald Trump]] to the presidency.  Since 2016, antisemitic attacks against synagogues have contributed to this fear. The 2019 survey found that combatting antisemitism is a priority issue in domestic politics among American Jews, including [[millennials]].<ref>[https://www.jewishelectorateinstitute.org/poll-domestic-issues-dominate-the-priorities-of-the-jewish-electorate/ "Poll: Domestic Issues Dominate The Priorities Of The Jewish Electorate."] ''Jewish Electorate Institute''. 22 May 2019. 22 May 2019.</ref>