Anti-Semitism And How Jews Became White Folks By Karen Brodkin

In the handout on Anti-Semitism and the excerpt titled, How Jews Became White Folks by Karen Brodkin, it is clear that the structure of injustice presented in both of these pieces was that of institutional anti-Semitism. According to Michael Lerner, the definition of anti-Semitism is “the systematic discrimination against Jews and against Jewish cultural, intellectual, and religious heritage” (Adams pp. 135). Prior to the readings, I had the misconception that anti-Semitism strictly occurred in Nazi Germany. However, now it is evident to me that Jews experienced discrimination beyond what happened during the Holocaust. In fact, Nazi Germany actually had parallel practices that took place in early Christian Europe (Adams pp.136). One example of institutional anti-Semitism that took place was mentioned in the excerpt titled, How Jews Became White Folks. Brodkin presented the case that anti-Semitism “flourished in higher education” (Rothenberg 29). The …show more content…
She recalled that when she was growing up in Flatbush, Brooklyn that every girl with a particular kind of nose seen as “too big” wanted a nose job. More shockingly was the fact that parents who could afford to pay for the procedure often did for their daughters. I could not believe it when she said that her friends would look forward to their day of “transformation”. It is sad that young girls were looking forward to having their noses broke, and to cause that amount of pain to themselves just to achieve this vision of a smaller nose, so that they did not appear to look Jewish anymore. Following this story, Adams stated the powerful statement, “Tell me again Jewish is just a religion” (Adams 140). This statement grabbed my attention because it showed me that this is a way of life, and a way in which people think beyond