The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race, and American Identity

Abstract

In The Price of Whiteness, Eric L. Goldstein assesses the complicated historical transition of American Jews from racial outsider status to their absorption into the white mainstream. Goldstein observes that during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Jews occupied an ambiguous status in the social order because they eluded clear racial classification. The uncertain identity of Jews posed serious problems to a culture that defined race relations in terms of a basic dichotomy between black and white. What further complicated the situation was the contradictory attitude that Jews themselves had about their racial status. While most Jews sought acceptance as whites, a historical experience of ostracism and persecution ingrained in them a deep minority consciousness and a determination to protect their distinctive group identity. The tension between these competing impulses became more acute as Jews attained recognition as whites but at the cost of sacrificing their cultural and religious heritage. Although whiteness bestowed enormous privileges on Jews, it was in some respects a mixed blessing.