Rita's Entry: Wednesday, March 29, 1911
Orchestra with Fran. Dandy time as usual. Hard, harder, hardest! The little Jew is too fresh. Needs to be squelched. Saw my friend of the 2nd fiddle on L platform. Sewed, mended, practiced, etc. Wrote home and got harmony. Tin went to Majestic with her Dad.
IN RITA'S DAY: I was very upset when I read this entry. I never knew my grandmother to be prejudiced and found her off hand comment about "the little Jew" to be insenstive and offensive! I don't know who she was writing about, but I did research to learn that the early 1900s in America was a time of growing anti-Semitism. The presidental election of 1896 included many remarks about Washington and Wall Street being controlled by the rich Jewish bankers. In 1908 the book above was published. It seems many people weren't concerned about the stereotype. The growing discrimination gave rise to many organizations established to improve conditions for Jews in America, but still in 1913 a man named Leo Frank was lynched because the governor of Georgia commuted his death sentence. This gave rise to the ADL. All this background is no excuse for my grandmother's comment, but helps me to understand the time in which she lived.
TODAY: The 2005 survey by the ADL says 9% of whites in the US are antisemitic; however, I was surprised recently when several of my Jewish friends told me that they felt antisemitism when they were growing up - and still feel it occasionally. It makes me sad.
Judy's Entry: Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Busy day. Went to the senior center for singing and zumba. Came home for lunch, then off to the Book Barn. Found 3 books I wanted. Then to the grocery store. My son called while I was fixing dinner to ask me to walk his dog. I did that then came home to find that the UPS man had delivered three packages... Fun!
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