TO WHAT DEGREE DOES ANTI-SEMITISM AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS SIMPLY REFLECT ANTI-WHITE SENTIMENT?

Jessica Simes (Lance Hannon) Sociology Department, Occidental College, 1600 Campus Road, Los Angeles, CA 90041-2214

In his classic essay (1967) titled “Negroes Are Anti-Semitic Because They're Anti-White," prominent African American writer James Baldwin argued that African American resentment of Jews reflects generalized anti-White sentiment. The current study empirically examined levels of anti-Semitic attitudes in the United States among African Americans and other racial/ethnic groups. Using General Social Survey data for a nationally representative sample of adults (n=1,118), this research investigated whether variation in anti-White attitudes can explain variation in anti-Semitic attitudes. Multiple indicators were utilized to make the concepts of anti-Semitic and anti-White attitudes operational. One such indicator was the degree to which one opposed living in a neighborhood with Jews (or Whites). Control variables included measures of one's perception of wealth for both Jews and Whites, as well as the respondent's sex, age, and educational attainment. A series of logistic regression analyses indicated that although anti-Semitic attitudes were strongly associated with anti-White attitudes, African Americans were still significantly more likely than White, Latino, and Asian groups to express anti-Semitic views when the level of anti-White sentiment was held constant (p<.05). The results suggest that anti-Semitism among African Americans is not simply a result of perceived Jewish assimilation to White society, but rather due to the larger, complex system of conflict among racial sub-groups.

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