46 | MAY 21 • 2020
Looking Back
From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History
accessible at www.djnfoundation.org
The Oldest Form of Hate
L
ast month, the JN
launched “The Anti-
Semitism Project,” a
yearlong inquiry and analysis
of one of the world’
s old-
est prejudices. It is a social
problem that
has not been
eradicated. At
one time, there
was hope that
anti-Semitism
would fade away.
In 1884, the first
edition of the
Oxford English
Dictionary even excluded
“anti-Semitism” because it was
thought that the word would
have a very short shelf life. It
can be found in any English
dictionary today.
Anti-Semitism is certain-
ly not as rampant as it was
during certain historical eras
like the 1930s. But, just as one
begins to perceive a dramatic
drop in anti-Semitic thought
and practice, the bias against
Jews rises again.
We are in the midst of
another swell of anti-Sem-
itism as we witness its rise
in Europe, continued hatred
of Jews in the Middle East,
shootings at synagogues in the
United State, BDS on college
campuses and Nazi symbols
freely displayed at recent pro-
tests in Lansing and Chicago,
to name just a few indicators.
I certainly want to do
my part to support the JN’
s
project. So, I explored the
discussions and reports of
anti-Semitism that might be
found in the historic pages of
the Detroit Jewish Chronicle
and the Detroit Jewish News in
the William Davidson Digital
Archive of Jewish Detroit
History.
The term appears on a
whopping 26,426 pages in
the Archive. Anti-Semitism
was mentioned in the first
issue of the Chronicle on
March 3, 1916, and in the first
issue of the JN on March 27,
1942. Indeed, anti-Semitism
is mentioned, discussed or
reported upon on about 8%
of all Chronicle and JN pages
over the years. If the pages
that were entirely devoted
to advertisements were left
out of this calculation, the
percentage of those including
reference to anti-Semitism
would be much higher. In
short, anti-Semitism was,
and still is, a critical topic of
interest to Detroit’
s Jewish
community.
The ebb and flow of
anti-Semitism is well doc-
umented in the Davidson
Archive. Stories in Detroit’
s
Jewish newspapers are
wide-ranging and fascinating,
as well as sobering, disgusting
and/or sad. For example, see
the item in the June 23, 1916,
issue of the Chronicle: “Anti-
Semitism in the National
Guard.” Or 100 years later,
see the commentaries in the
JN on Aug. 3, 2017: “Special
Envoy Needed to Combat
Anti-Semitism” or in the
Feb. 15, 2018, issue: “Today’
s
Anti-Semitism.” In between
those dates, there is a story
in the March 30, 1945, issue
of the Chronicle that cited
the National Commander of
Jewish War Veterans, who
warned about “The Threat
of Political Anti-Semitism.”
And many, many more.
Abe Foxman, for-
mer longtime national
director of the Anti-
Defamation League,
spoke in Detroit on
Nov. 20, 2019, and
noted that anti-Semitism “is
a virus without an antidote
or a vaccine. It serves so
many masters for so many
reasons.”
Unfortunately, the fight
against anti-Semitism must
still be waged. The Davidson
Archive holds proof that the
JN has, and always will, do its
best to be part of the solution.
First, the study of
anti-Semitism is not an exact
science and, second, it has no
one single cause.
Want to learn more? Go to the DJN
Foundation archives, available for free
at www.djnfoundation.org.
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