Antisemitism, U.S.A. Discussion Questions

Episode 1: “No Sanction to Bigotry”

1. How does antisemitism differ from prejudices against other groups?
2. Where does the episode title, "No Sanction to Bigotry," come from and what is its significance?
3. What barriers to naturalization did Early American Jews like Aaron Lopez and Isaac Eliezer face? How did they overcome these barriers?
4. What is significant about the language used in Moses Seixas's letter, and likewise in George Washington's response?

Listen to Episode 1

Episode 2: “Moral Citizens”

1. In the early 1800s, how did the states both outright and implicitly exclude Jews from holding office?
2. We often associate emancipation with President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, but emancipation does not only apply to African Americans and enslavement. What makes emancipation a process rather than an event?
3. In what ways did Jews in the early United States have to test the law to defend their rights as citizens?
4. How did benevolence societies like the American Society for Meliorating the Condition of the Jews (ASMCJ) reinforce antisemitism in the United States despite their goal of "helping" Jews?
5. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees the freedom of religion at the federal level. How did antisemitic practices continue to evolve following the American Revolution?

Listen to Episode 2

Episode 3: “Merchants and Money”

1. This episode discusses California’s Sabbath Observance Act, passed in the mid-nineteenth century. How can laws be antisemitic in enforcement, even if the intent of the law itself is not?
2. How did lawmakers justify antisemitism in policymaking, specifically about Sunday closing laws?
3. What factors disguise Jewish experiences in the United States as "a smooth, easy path of upward mobility"?
4. In the middle of this episode, we discuss the various stereotypes that exist about Jews. How did Jews become associated with negative financial stereotypes, and how did they evolve in the United States?

Listen to Episode 3

Episode 4: “Exclusion”

1. Why did American society shift so rapidly from more subtle antisemitism like the benevolence societies in the early 19th century, to extreme antisemitic and eugenicist hatred by the early 20th? How did this antisemitism manifest in policy areas like immigration?
2. Why were Jews particularly targeted by racial thinkers in the early 1900s?
3. How did Jews resist exclusionary practice, both in and outside the courts, and protect themselves from discrimination?
4. What stereotypes about Jews solidified in antisemitic rhetoric during the early 20^th century?

Listen to Episode 4

Episode 5: “Conspiracies”

1. At the beginning of the episode, we discuss how many stereotypes of Jews draw on a perceived Jewish superiority rather than inferiority. In this vein, why is antisemitism a "unique kind of bigotry"?
2. How did the Protocols of the Elders of Zion both take advantage of existing stereotypes against Jews and perpetrate new ones?
3. How did Henry Ford utilize the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to spread antisemitism?
4. How did some Americans draw connections between communists and Jews, and what were the impacts of those perceived connections?

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Episode 6: “Lower than Animals”

1. How do figures like William Dudley Pelley and Father Charles Coughlin, discussed in the first half of the episode, connect Nazism and communism to Jews in the 1930s and 40s?
2. How did immigration policy limit United States governmental response to the Jewish refugee crisis in Europe in the 1930s?
3. Why did the United States Army avoid employing Jewish survivors and other displaced persons after World War II ended?
4. How did General George Patton and other United States officials reinforce the dehumanization of Jewish survivors and other displaced persons after the war? How was this dehumanization used to later bar refugees from the United States?

Listen to Episode 6

Episode 7: “The Houses We Live In”

1. Following World War II, vocal and public antisemitism became socially unacceptable. But how did antisemitism continue in public spaces in the United States? What did Jews do to challenge this antisemitism?
2. At the beginning of this episode, we talk about Bess Myerson as Miss America. How was Myerson’s experience as Miss America differ from previous Miss Americas? What antisemitism did she face after winning the pageant, and what did this say about the broader American attitude toward Jews?
3. The Civil Rights Act prohibited but did not totally eliminate anti-Black racism and antisemitism. How did antisemitism collide with anti-Black racism in Ocean Hill Brownsville schools?
4. How did the Ocean Hill Brownsville conflict, discussed in the latter half of this episode, become less about due process and the law and more about race, hatred, and bigotry? How did the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) weaponize antisemitism?

Listen to Episode 7 

Episode 8: “The Synagogue of Satan”

1. What initially made Billy Graham palatable to American Jews in the 1950s and 1960s? Where did Graham diverge from other religious figures in American history in regard to his view on Jews?
2. How did President Richard Nixon differentiate between American Jews and Israeli Jews? Why was this distinction important to him, and how did it harm Jews in the United States?
3. What was the Synagogue of Satan? Where did Evangelical Christians get this idea, and how did it influence Graham’s interactions with Jews and Gentiles?
4. How do Graham and Nixon’s 1970s conversations reflect the lingering influence of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion?
5. Why do people like Nixon and Graham believe they are not antisemitic? How did Nixon rationalize his antisemitism?

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Episode 9: “David and Goliath”

1. What are the definitions of antisemitism and anti-Zionism? Why are these two terms often equated?
2. How has decolonialism influenced perceptions of the state of Israel? How have typical conceptions of race been applied to the Israel-Hamas war?
3. What is the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement?
4. How has the Israel-Hamas war that began in 2023 complicated our understanding of antisemitism and anti-Zionism?

Listen to Episode 9 

Episode 10: “Between Hate and Hope”

1. How have white supremacy and antisemitism often been closely connected? How have these dual notions manifested throughout United States history?
2. Early in this episode, we discuss the different stances taken by President Jimmy Carter versus President Donald Trump. What is a philosemite and why is President Trump described as such? How do antisemitism and philosemitism exist side by side?
3. What are the parallels between Muslim antisemitism and American antisemitism? What are the differences?
4. How have presidential responses to antisemitism differed?
5. What have you learned by listening to this series? What questions do you still have?

Listen to Episode 10

Questions by Hayley Madl, George Mason University PhD Student, 2024