• blunderworld@lemmy.ca
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    11 months ago

    I don’t know enough about the subject to speculate about what an average American thought of Jewish immigrants - or any other immigrant population - during those centuries. I’m also neither American nor Jewish, so I can’t speak personally about the day-to-day reality of that relationship currently.

    What modern news and history have to say about America’s tolerance level though… that is up for debate, and they tell a more complex story. While we’re considering dates, a relevant example may be that the United States only abolished slavery in the 1860s. I’ll grant you that speaks to the persecution of a different population, but I doubt the bigots who fought to preserve that ‘right’ during the American Civil War were choosy.

    Please don’t misunderstand me; I don’t doubt that many Jewish people that emigrated to the United States have had better lives than they otherwise would have. I’m also not implying that the average American today is hateful or bigoted. I just don’t agree with the notion that the world would inherently be a better place if every Jewish person impacted by diaspora ended up in the United States specifically.

    • Ranvier
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      11 months ago

      Oh absolutely, I did not mean to imply I agreed with that original poster that all Jewish people should have been forcibly emigrated to the United States or whatever bad take that was. I just thought it was bizarre they were saying “why didn’t this happen?” about Jewish people leaving for America when it literally did happen.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_the_United_States

      • blunderworld@lemmy.ca
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        11 months ago

        Fair enough, maybe just a miscommunication between us then. I appreciate the respectful discussion either way.