The tsunami of stunning anti-Semitism all over the world, from Hamas’ slaughter of 1,200 Jews and hostage-taking on October 7 to anti-Semitic demonstrations, has triggered deep-seated recollections of rising up Jewish and experiencing anti-Semitism in Seattle.
We Jews have been a definite minority in Seattle, and no public establishment (colleges, authorities places of work, and many others.) closed on Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur, our Excessive Holy Days. Till very just lately, Jews have been hardly ever if ever admitted to Seattle’s outstanding social establishments, such because the Seattle Yacht Membership, the Seattle Tennis Membership, the Faculty Membership, the Washington Athletic Membership, the Rainier Membership, or the Seattle and Broadmoor Golf Golf equipment, or allowed to reside in Seattle’s gated neighborhood of Broadmoor or The Highlands.
My most overt anti-Semitic expertise was within the late Forties when our household was barred from what was then the Alderbrook Inn, a resort lodge on Hood Canal. Dad had made reservations properly prematurely and my sister and I have been particularly excited because it was the primary time our household had deliberate to remain at a “resort”.
After we arrived, I went with Dad to the entrance desk to examine in. The receptionist reviewed the reservation after which requested Dad, “Are you Jewish?” Dad replied “sure” and requested why he requested. The receptionist replied that he was sorry for the inconvenience, however the Alderbrook Inn didn’t settle for Jews. We instantly left, my sister and I crying over our disappointment.
This was not unusual within the US resort trade, notably within the Southwest and on the East Coast, in accordance with the Anti-Defamation League. Resorts would promote as being for “chosen” or “restricted” prospects, with some going as far as to place up “Gentiles Solely” indicators. (By the mid-Fifties, Washington had a legislation in place that prohibited discrimination in resorts, in accordance with the ADL.)
Once I attended the College of Washington (1952-54), there have been separate fraternities and sororities for Jewish college students. Jews had created nationwide organizations with native chapters at schools and universities all through the USA, and that included three Jewish fraternities and two Jewish sororities on the UW. The segregation of Jews and non-Jews was facilitated by the UW, which created separate “rushes” (a interval throughout which fraternities and sororities recruit members) for non-Jews. I participated in Jewish rush and joined a Jewish fraternity, Zeta Beta Tau.
After I earned my undergraduate and MBA levels, I enrolled in legislation college. Once I was in search of a summer season workplace after my freshman yr, I used to be suggested by educated buddies to not waste my time making use of to the large and established legislation companies in Seattle, since nearly none employed Jews. I used to be employed by a small agency in Seattle collectively run by a Jewish and a black companion.
Once I graduated from Yale Legislation College in 1962, alternatives for Jewish attorneys in Seattle have been very restricted. Firm legislation was dominated by two massive legislation companies – one in every of which had not but employed its first Jewish lawyer on the time, and the opposite had solely two Jewish attorneys. It was extensively believed by Jewish legislation college students throughout the nation that alternatives within the legislation have been restricted to “Jewish” companies, which have been few and restricted in scope, and authorities jobs.
Throughout my senior yr at Yale, prestigious New York “white shoe” legislation companies swarmed the legislation college and recruited graduate college students. Though a couple of third of the varsity’s college students have been Jewish, nearly none have been employed by these companies.
These unique practices formally ended within the late Fifties and ’60s as a consequence of federal courtroom rulings and laws prohibiting discrimination primarily based on faith.
That stated, there’s a enormous hole between the legally enforced proper to use and the sensation of being honest welcome by an employer or social group or housing affiliation. My considerably knowledgeable guess is {that a} smaller variety of Jews—in comparison with non-Jews of comparable academic and employment backgrounds—now work in or belong to organizations that beforehand excluded them. Why? Instinct tells me that Jews lack curiosity in becoming a member of or working for a beforehand exclusionary group.
For instance, in the course of the summer season between my second and third yr of legislation college, I labored for the Aetna Insurance coverage Group, which on the time had no Jewish attorneys (or officers inside its massive company hierarchy). I used to be supplied a job after commencement, however selected to not settle for it due to the apparent lack of alternatives for Jewish staff all through the corporate. I do not assume I’d have labored for a legislation agency “compelled” to rent me.
My greatest pal in legislation college, Alan Levine, recounted the expertise of being addressed as “Mr. Goldberg” on the finish of a job interview. In response to being corrected, the interviewer shrugged and stated, “Goldberg, Levine …”
An irony: Whereas working for the Authorized Protection Fund, then the premier group difficult Jim Crow practices, my efforts have been centered solely on anti-black discrimination.
Nonetheless, exclusion from employment, resorts and social teams was solely the tip of the iceberg in relation to anti-Semitism.