Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Anti-Semitism and the Deep South: A Psychiatrist’s Perspective

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Anti-Semitism and Psychiatry

  • 530 Accesses

Abstract

The popular image of the Deep South depicts white Southerners as racist and anti-Semitic with a predilection for violence. But this has not been the experience of Jews that live in the Deep South. Looking at Mississippi as representative of the Deep South, Jews have been an integral part of Mississippi communities since the first Jewish peddlers settled in Mississippi in the late 1700s. Mississippi Jews have chosen assimilation over orthodoxy, striving to fit in. At the same time they have maintained Jewish traditions and ties with Jews across the state and beyond. Overt anti-Semitism is rare. Nonetheless, a constant undercurrent of anti-Semitism continues, that is easily triggered, often by merely expressing an opinion that differs from those of the white Protestant majority. Although once having widespread presence in rural parts of the state, the Jewish population in Mississippi is dwindling.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Zola GP (Center for S of SC. Perry Nussbaum (1908–1987) [Internet]. Mississippi Encyclopedia. 2018 [cited 2019 May 8]. Available from: https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/nussbaum-perry/.

  2. Nelson J. Terror in the night. New York: Simon and Schuster; 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Dinnerstein L. A neglected aspect of Southern Jewish. Am Jew Hist Q [Internet]. 1971;61(1):52–68. Available from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23877842.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Cohen E. The Peddler’s grandson - growing up Jewish in Mississippi. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi; 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  5. U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts Mississippi [Internet]. U.S. Department of Commerce. 2018 [cited 2019 Dec 3]. Available from: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/MS.

  6. Moore WE, Williams RM. Stratification in the Ante-Bellum South. Am Sociol Rev [Internet]. 1942;7(3):343–51. Available from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2085363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Gates HL. Black America and the Class Divide NY Times. New York Times [Internet]. 2016 Feb 1; Available from: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/education/edlife/black-america-and-the-class-divide.html.

  8. Pew Research Center. Religious composition of adults in Mississippi. Pew Res Cent [Internet]. 2016; Available from: http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/state/michigan/.

  9. Mohler RA. Do Jews really need Christ? Controversy over Jewish Evangelism [Internet]. 2009. Available from: https://albertmohler.com/2009/07/16/do-jews-really-need-christ-controversy-over-jewish-evangelism/.

  10. Goldwasser T. The last rural Jew. The Washington Post [Internet]. 1985 Aug 25; Available from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1985/08/25/the-last-rural-jew/502d30d6-b232-4ee4-80ae-b3b11b711eaa/?utm_term=.7e9a397ef5c4.

  11. Haag M. Robert Jeffress, Pastor who said Jews are going to hell, led prayer at Jerusalem Embassy. New York Times [Internet]. 2018 May 14; Available from: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/world/middleeast/robert-jeffress-embassy-jerusalem-us.html.

  12. Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities – [Internet]. Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities, South Carolina. 2019. Available from: https://www.isjl.org/south-carolina-charleston-encyclopedia.html.

  13. Lowery C. The Great Migration to the Mississippi Territory, 1798–1819 [Internet]. Vol. 2010, Mississippi History Now: an online publication of the Mississippi Historical Society. 2000. Available from: http://www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/articles/169/the-great-migration-to-the-mississippi-territory-1798-1819.

  14. Marcus JR. United States Jewry, 1775–1985, Volume II, The Germanic Period. Wayne State University Press; Loc. p. 1181–240.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Pearsall M. Cultures of the American South. Anthropol Q [Internet]. 1966;39(2):128–41. Available from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3316783.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Korn BW. Jews and Negro slavery in the old South, 1789–1865: address of the president. Publ Am Jewish Hist Soc. 2019;50(3):151–201.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities – Meridian, Mississippi [Internet]. Institute of Southern Jewish Life. 2019. Available from: https://www.isjl.org/mississippi-meridian-encyclopedia.html.

  18. Bunker GL, Appel J. “Shoddy,” Anti-Semitism and the Civil War. Am Jew Hist [Internet]. 82(1/4):43–71. Available from: https://www.museum.msu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Shoddy-Anti-Semitism-and-the-Civil-War.pdf.

  19. Ash SV. Civil war exodus: the Jews and Grant’s general order no. 11. History [Internet]. 1982;44(11):505–23. Available from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24446261.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Jenkins S, Stauffer J. The free state of Jones. 1st ed: Doubleday; New York. 2009. p. 117–92.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Baudouin R. Ku Klux Klan: a history of racism and violence 6th edition [internet]. Klanwatch Project 2011. Available from: https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/Ku-Klux-Klan-A-History-of-Racism.pdf.

  22. Bigelow M. Public opinion and the passage of the Mississippi black CODES. Negro Hist Bull [Internet]. 1970;33(1):11–6. Available from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24766779.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Rockaway R, Gutfeld A. Demonic images of the Jew in the nineteenth century United States. Am Jew Hist [Internet]. 2019;89(4):355–81. Available from: https://www.jstor.org/stabe/23886447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Rogoff L. Is the Jew White?: The Racial Place of the Southern Jew. Am Jewish Hist. 2019;85(3):195–230. Special Issue: Directions in Southern Jewish History, Part One (September 1997), pp. 195–230 Published by: T.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Garland EA. The misuse of biological hierarchies: the AMERICAN eugenics movement , 1900–1940. Hist Philos Life Sci. 1983;5(2):105–28.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Moseley C. The case of Leo M. Frank, 1913–1915. Ga Hist Q [Internet]. 1967;51(1):42–62. Available from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40578874.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Genzlinger N. Reverberations of a trial and its shocking aftermath. The New York Times [Internet]. 2009 Nov 1; Available from: https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/arts/television/02frank.html.

  28. Sion B. Protocols of the elders of Zion contents of the protocols – the lie that would not die [Internet]. My Jewish Learning. Available from: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/protocols-of-the-elders-of-zion/.

  29. Brav SR. Mississippi incident. Am Jew Arch [Internet]. 1952:59–64. Available from: http://americanjewisharchives.org/publications/journal/PDF/1952_04_02_00_brav.pdf.

  30. Rabinowitz HN. Nativism, bigotry and anti-Semitism in the South. Am Jew Hist [Internet]. 1988;77(3):437–51. Available from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23883316.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Dinnerstein L. A note on southern attitudes toward Jews. Jew Soc Stud [Internet]. 1970;32(1):43–9. Available from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4466553.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Webb C. Closing ranks: Montgomery Jews and civil rights, 1954–1960. J Am Stud. 1998;32(3):463–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Pink A. Which states had the fewest anti-Semitic incidents? The answer may surprise you [Internet]. Forward. 2017 [cited 2019 Sep 8]. Available from: https://forward.com/fast-forward/429227/white-supremacist-murder-charlottesville/.

  34. Canter B. Jewish (and safe) In “Redneck Country” on finding a welcoming home in the small-town South [Internet]. My Jewish Learning. 2019. Available from: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/southern-and-jewish/jewish-and-safe-in-redneck-country/.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Henderson Clinic & Consulting, Hickory, MS, USA

    Elizabeth C. Henderson

Authors
  1. Elizabeth C. Henderson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elizabeth C. Henderson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Private Practice and Retired Tenured Professor of Psychiatry Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    H. Steven Moffic

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    John R. Peteet

  3. South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

    Ahmed Hankir

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Mary V. Seeman

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Henderson, E.C. (2020). Anti-Semitism and the Deep South: A Psychiatrist’s Perspective. In: Moffic, H., Peteet, J., Hankir, A., Seeman, M. (eds) Anti-Semitism and Psychiatry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37745-8_19

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37745-8_19

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-37744-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-37745-8

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation