User:Jessemoskowitz/sandbox

I.      Background Information: Where and When Jewish Stereotypes Originated From

• Stereotypes: A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

• Between the years 250 CE-1948 CE -1,700 years - Jews have experienced more than eighty expulsions from various countries in Europe; an average of nearly one expulsion every twenty-one years. Jews were ordered to be removed from England, France, Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Spain, Portugal, Bohemia, Moravia and seventy-one other countries.

II.   Explanations to why Jews were kicked out of their homelands, Old Reasons As To Why Jews are Stereotyped

• Economic - "We hate Jews because they possess too much wealth and power."

• Chosen People --"We hate Jews because they arrogantly claim that they are the chosen people."

• Scapegoat --"Jews are a convenient group to single out and blame for our troubles."

• Deicide -"We hate Jews because they killed Jesus."

• Outsiders - "We hate Jews because they are different than us." (The dislike of the unlike.)

• Racial Theory - "We hate Jews because they are an inferior race."

III.  Further Analyzing the Explanations Of Why Jews Are Stereotyped

• Economic -The Jews of 17th- 20th century Poland and Russia were poor, had no influence and yet they were hated.

• Chosen People- In the late 19th century, the Jews of Germany denied "Choseness." Then, they worked on assimilation. However, soon after people did not think the Jews fit in and the beginnings of the Holocaust formed.

• Scapegoat -Any group must already be hated to be an effective scapegoat. Scapegoat Theory made the Jews an easy target because majority of society at the time already hated them.

• Deicide - Christian Bible says the Romans killed Jesus, though Jews are mentioned as accomplices (claims that Jews killed Jesus came several hundred years later). Jesus himself said, "Forgive them [i.e., the Jews], for they know not what they do." The Second Vatican Council in 1963 officially exonerated the Jews as the killers of Jesus.
• Outsiders - With the Enlightenment in the late 18th century, many Jews rushed to assimilate. Nazis came the cry, in essence: "We hate you, not because you're different, but because you're trying to become like us! We cannot allow you to infect the Aryan race with your inferior genes."

• Racial Theory -The problem with this theory is that it is self-contradictory: Jews are not a race. Anyone can become a Jew - and members of every race, creed and color in the world have done so at one time or another.

IV.  Prevalence: United States

• According to a 2011 New York Times Article, a nationwide survey released by the Anti-Defamation League found that 15 percent of the country holds deeply antisemitic views

• The survey found that the stereotypes of Jews being pushy and controlling the economy festered especially among the least educated Americans

V.   2011 Statistics Prevalent in America Today

• 19% answered “probably true” to the statement “Jews have too much control/influence on Wall Street,” a five percentage point increase since 2009.

• 14% agreed with the statement that "Jews have too much power in the U.S. today," an increase from 13% in 2009.

• 15% agreed Jews are "more willing to use shady practices."

• 16% agreed that Jewish "business people are so shrewd, others don't have a chance."

• Some 31% believe the Jews were responsible for crucifying Christ.