The issues of assimilation, integration, and self-identity are salient today more than ever in America society. With pushes toward closing the US borders and increased issues of homeland security, the question of American identities and values are ever-present in the media and in common thought. However, these same issues have been present throughout America's history of accepting immigrants. How do we define American identity? Furthermore, does assimilation into new culture mean the loss of previous national identities and traditions? These questions and issues are demonstrated in the experiences of the Bronson family as they move through the United States, from NYC to the South.
When "Avram Plotchnikoff" arrives at Ellis Island, he is immediately outcast by his failure to understand English and American customs. He is directed toward the East Bronx, where there is known to be large Jewish presence, and immediately he goes upon finding employment. He locates a shop with a Jewish sounding name so he can connect with a shop owner, and score a job. When he meets Mr. Bronstein, the shop owner suggests changing his name, as being Jewish isn't something that is good to advertise. This demonstrates the immigrants' fear of being outcast and unwelcome because of their Jewish identity. This is also seen when the narrator's mother, Reba, is afraid to reveal her Jewish identity in fear of being fired by her boss in her manufacturing job. She is not sure what characteristics or stories will give her away so she finds is safer to disdain from speaking of interacting with her co-workers. This demonstrates American distaste for openly Jewish names and customs. On the other hand, Jewish people also rejected non-Jewish Americans, as seen when Aaron's Jewish community disapproves of his relationships with young women who are not of this culture/religion. Aaron's open Jewish-ness in this first chapter is juxtaposed next to the opening paragraph of the third chapter explaining that "he really didn't take religion seriously." Yet he sought out and lived with other Jews in NYC and regularly attended synagogue and Jewish gatherings out of a social need. This demonstrates a way in which Judaism is not only a religion but a culture, and can fiercely shape personal identity even when people do not conform strictly to the religion. In this case, "religion" works as a synonym for familial and national traditions and customs that shape a person's identity and beliefs. The complexity of these identities is in parallel with the family's experiences and interactions with African Americans in the South. Reba describes being afraid of the African Americans that worked as janitors in her manufacturing job, yet Aaron hopes African Americans will be customers at his new "Jew Store" in Concordia. This family's relationship with African Americans represents the complex web of Jewish-African American relations in the South, with the Jews both accepting and distancing themselves from African Americans simultaneously. In Webb's article "A Tangled Web", he discusses the relations between Jews and African Americans in the south during the civil rights era. Anecdotes in Webb's article describe how relations between the two groups were constantly toeing the color line that existed as the societal framework of the South. Although we would expect that the parallelism between both oppressed groups would cause Southern Jews to empathize with the experience of African Americans, the pressure of white supremacy in the South caused Jews to assimilate into the white majority.
The sectionalism within the Jewish community at the time, including groups of Northern and Southern Jews who both supported and opposed desegregation, demonstrates how different identities are constructed. The white majority allowed Jews to have political rights but often excluded them from social and cultural events of the white South. Overall, the construction of African Americans as the lowest members of society pressured Southern Jews to distance themselves significantly from their Black counterparts, often fearing violence or retribution if they supported African Americans. Mostly Northern Jews worked as activists against white supremacy and segregation and often entered the South to be allies in the movement. However, there was a small population of Southern Jews, such as social activists and rabbis, who spoke out openly against segregation and worked to promote equality within Southern society. These contrasting Jewish identities at the time, demonstrate the diversity even within one religion. Although religion and culture play a powerful role in identity construction, personal experience and familial tradition also way heavily on identity and in turn personal actions. Clearly, there was a huge difference between a Jew in the South and a Southern white who happened to be Jewish. This example also highlights the intersectionality of identity with Southern Jews occupying multiple spaces within Southern society - a merchant, an activist, a rabbi, a religious Jew, a white Southern - and using select history and experience to shape an identity that was convenient at the time. This intersectionality is parallel to the experiences of other minority groups within the world today. Blacks in the United States continue to experience an intersectionality and searching of identity as the white community constantly groups them as one monolithic group. Oftentimes, Blacks don't identity as African American but see themselves as Caribbean American or American African. Their constructions of identity pull from multiple experiences and traditions inside and outside of the US that do not necessarily coincide with the experiences of African American families brought to the US during the slave trade. Similarly, Muslims in Europe can experience a similar identity crisis. Second and third generation Muslims often struggle to be either European or Muslim - as white Europeans create a social construct which purposely pits the two identities against one another. Specific personal experience and tradition shapes personal identification and human action in all these examples. |
AuthorMy name is Lilly and I'm originally from Upstate NY studying in Atlanta, GA. I am double majoring in Biology & Chemistry. I grew up in the small, mostly white Christian town in Upstate NY. In high school, I only had a few Jewish friends and I didn't have much interaction with Jewish religion or culture. I am excited to learn more about Jewish history and draw connections based on my previous knowledge of the southern United States. ArchivesCategories |